Livery Barrel Aged Belgian Amber

Brewed by The Livery
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Benton Harbor, Michigan USA

On tap and enjoyed at Steve’s Birthday bash, snifter: Crimson and brown hue with no head to speak of nor lacing (again this needs more time to carbonate). The aroma has big fruity esters (apple, pear, grape), sugar, caramel, toast, and herbal hop, This is phenolic and lightly alcoholic, sort of like an apple brandy (but much less than Captain Lawrence Golden Delicious).

The taste starts with yummy fruit and spice with a constant yeast driven background. Mild pale malting are counter balanced by a tannic wood presence. A hint of fusel alcohol and vinous. The mouth feel is soft and lush with a slight warming trend. A powerful but clean barrel influenced beer. (no bourbon stuff here!)

Big thanks to BBB63 for bringing this beer down to Degarth’s the Tampa tasting. It pours clear copper with thin white head. Big aroma of musty crushed diced prunes, ripe cherries, brown sugar, woody oakiness and a bit of mild heat. The taste is very similar with cherries, dates, plums, raisins all mixed with nice woodiness. Yum. I get notes of the Belgian yeasty spiciness along with faint bubble gum, banana and spice.

Shared from a growler brought back from Hopcat. Pours a murky, rusty brown with just a small ring of white lacing. Aroma is of oak, spice, malt, yeast, and raisins. Taste starts off extremely bitter with lots of oak, hops, and sour fruit. After the sourness settles, a tasty malt base shines through with lots of yeast, spice, and bourbon. Lingering sour fruit flavors. Heavy alcohol warming effect. This beer seems like a strange blend of a pale ale and a Belgian brew. It all blends very well together though, with no one flavor taking the forefront. It is a sipper though, so drinking half a growler is a poor choice. I was rocked as hell after two glasses.

Date: 02/23/2008
Mode: Hand Bottled
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party

Appearance: hazy amber, scant head,
Aroma: sweet fruity aroma with lots of apple character, vanilla sweetness brings out even more fruity character,
Flavor: sweet caramel and vanilla flavor, nice fruity character, light oak and spicyness adds some balance but lets the sweet fruityness rule, touch of alcohol does not interfer,

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.8/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

On tap at the brewpub, this one limited my drinking so as to be able to continue to drive. Poured into a snifter a hazed amber orange with a soapy beige head. Light nose that is fruity and slightly sour. Flavors are slightly tart with grapefruit, red grapes, cherries, and oranges with an herbal spice from the yeast and hops. Medium slick body. Who thought an amber could be so good?

Courtesy BBB63. Handbottle. Pours a fairly clear amber, with a light bubbly head. Smells of big oak, caramel, and sweet fruit. Lovely blended mixture. The flavor is of sweet caramel, and some sweet fruits, grapes, and apples. Got some Belgian yeast in there too. Pretty good amber brew. Had some barley wine characters to it, and was very flavorful. Liked it.

Again, thanks to BBB63 for this one. Slightly cloudy amber color, very little head present. Aroma is a mix of mild sourness, Belgian yeast, sweetness, apple juice. The oak comes out more in the taste and melds nicely with the Belgian characters. Lots of dark fruits and spice. Pretty unique.

Appearance: Pours a clear, garnet-hued body with no head, but this is a handbottle, so it’s to be expected. Smell: Fruity aroma of young apples, purple-colored cotton candy, and a stick or two or JuicyFruit with a dusting of menthol. Taste: Sweet, syrupy caramel maltiness. Slight herbaceousness. Light oak component. Banana and grape-like fruit flavors. Slight yeastiness. Fruity, sweetish finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Quite still and quite warming. Drinkability: Spot-on tastiness!