REAL ALE TENT @ GTMW 2008: Deep amber with a very good head. The aroma has notes of roasty and caramel malts and twangy fruity esters. The taste has an apple and pear character over a sweet malt base and woody finish. The mouth feel is warming and smooth. Wow a shockingly good brew.

Draft at Gravity Head. Poured clear dark brown color with an average creamy off-white head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate nutty, fruity and alcohol aroma. Medium body with a slick texture. Medium woody bittersweet flavor with a medium to heavy bittersweet finish that was moderate to long in duration. This is a complex solid beer.

On firkin at Rich O’s. Gravity Head ’08. Dark lifeless black-brown with no head, maybe a suggestion of bubbles at first. Dry fruity oaky raisins over alcohol, small vanilla oak. Simple nose. Dead flat mouth, barely the suggestion of a bubble of carbonation or two. Sweet dry alcohol sweetness. Dark malt. some small oaky fruit driness. Alcohol is obvious. Not a ton of complexity, but not unpleasant to drink either.

On tap at RichO’s: Deep brown pour with a thin, mocha head. The nose is rather subtle for this big beer, noting sweet caramel and plum. Big, chewy body. This almost seems spiced as the malt bill is just gigantic. Lots of citrusy hops add a strange mix to the malty body. Finishes rindy and sugary. This is so big that it becomes muted overall.

Cask at GTMW. One note, whenever I see a bunch of cask’s at a beer festival, I have to ask, why are there bags of ice on top of the barrels? The beer comes from the bottom. Pours a even brown with plenty of sediment. The aroma was very woodsy. Cedar was prevailent. Dark fruits also came through. The flavor was full of dark fruits, figs, cherries. Has a bit of a warming factor, I think due to the alcohol. A nice clean, semisweet finish. Very well made.