North Coast Anniversary X Ale

Formerly brewed at North Coast Brewing Company
Style: Old Ale
Fort Bragg, California USA

YEHA. Deep reddish amber with small head. Aroma is caramel, sherry, raisins, oak. Taste is caramel, raisins, sherry like aged malt, wood, vanilla. Medium to full bodied, this held up pretty well.

750ml bottle. Thanks to dickinsonbeer for inflating the auction price on this for me (and in the end, he gets to try it for free!). Poured a deeper orangish / brownish color with a small sized off white head. Some big floaters. Aromas of caramel, dark fruits, wood, smoke, and chocolate. Tastes of caramel, chocolate, wood, and dark fruits. Some oxidation is setting in, but still holding up OK.

Poured a murky red brown color with a small, light tan head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of sherry, wood, nuts, vanilla, light caramel, and dark fruits. Taste of caramel, nuts, light cardboard, dried fruits, and a bit of alcohol in the finish.

Thanks Hopdog for bidding way too much on LiquidSolutions. Tastes nicely aged with a sweet brown sugar caramel thing. Still lots of wood and vanilla in the aroma.

Date: November 14, 1999
Mode: Bottle
Source: Belmont Station, Portland
Appearance: dark hazy brown, whispy tan head
Aroma: slightly fruity rich malt aroma
Flavor: rich and malty flavor, touch of chocolate, well balanced with a nice bitter finish

Date: January 09, 2004
Aroma: rich aroma with oaky character
Flavor: rich smooth malt flavor, well blended, nice rich fruit character, no bitterness, big oak character

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 5/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Score: **4

The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

1998. A big pint from a magnum bottle wasn’t enough to take all this in, as I was fully aware I wouldn’t likely ever see this again. A hazy copper pour has underlying, bright crimson notes. A small white head forms and trickles away leaving groups of fat bubbles clinging to the sides of the glass. Aromas of brown sugar, molasses and sherry begin a parade of scents, followed by toffee, sweet caramel, overly-toasted grains, oak, sourdough bread and light alcohol. Very bright fruit notes bring in the rear, mainly of plum, apricot and raisins. Light diacetyl noted. The flavor is sweet but never cloying, with additions of light smoke and bitter chocolate. Carbonation is low and lends to an earthy feel. Fruit notes subside just as quickly as they arose. The finish is elegant, leaving notes of molasses, caramel and burned brown sugar behind. Mouthfeel is soft and slightly burned. Very good. Hopefully this will see some variety of reincarnation in the forseeable future.

Fruit forward nose with note of stone fruit anf apricot. Caramel and toffee forward palate. Soft treacle and molasses notes come thru at mid palate. Clean and round with a lingering finish.

Sampled from a bottle thanks to kp on 7/2/06: Pours a slightly hazy copper amber with a thin ring of off-white head. Complex aged caramel malty aroma has a light fruity character. Body starts with a mild, oxidized caramel maltiness thinning toward a more watery, warming finish. Seems to have lost a lot through aging, but still has some complexities and is very drinkable.