North Coast Anniversary X Ale

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

Nice oak undertones with malt and caramel overtones. Evenly balanced and ripe.

Pours dark reddish with a tan head (Still nicely carbonated after all these years) Aroma is an intense caramel, soy, and wood. Flavor of caramel hard candies, wood, and butterscotch. Excellent extremely rich beer with a nice woodiness. This is an excellent example of the proper way to use a barrels influence when crafting a beer.

Bottle sampled at jeffc666’s B-day gathering 2/6/05: Thanks to Argo0 for bringing this beauty. This was one of my favorites of the night, which says a lot considering what it was up against. The color of this beer transitioned from a cloudy amber orange at the top of the glass to a ruby at the very bottom; small tan head. The aroma smells like calvados to me initially, with a full nose of apple, sweet alcohol, wood, cherry, caramel. Taste is sweet potato, fruits, apple, oak, wood chips, smoked wood, caramel, sweet throughout. Medium bodied. This beer has really aged well, I’d love to get my hands on some more.

Sampled at jeffc666’s gathering. Dark amber/light brown with a beige head. Aroma of aged malt, caramel, brown sugar and some whiskey. Tastes like an aged barleywine mixed with a full-bodied brown ale -quite nice. Taste has notes of caramel, dark fruit, some whiskey, wood and oatmeal raisin cookie dough. Full and round on the palate. Nice stuff.

Thanks to argo0 for bringing this one ot the party. Very murky brown body topped by a creamy light tan head. Lots of suspended sediment. Huge toffe, buterscotch, caramel nose, an oaky woodiness also comes through as does some light nuttiness. The flavor is very nice caramel, toffee, oak, medium sweet throughout, minimal bitterness. Sweet soft lightly watery medium body. Quite good and it has aged very well.

(750ml bottle) Creamy beige head atop an opaque brown body with sediment. Aroma is moderately sweet, caramel/toffee/butterscotch, oak, vinous. Taste is medium sweet, toffee, some caramel, light butterscotch. Finishes with nice oak. Medium body, somewhat watery. Delicious beer that has aged remarkably well -- whatever hops qualities that once existed are long gone, but no complaints whatsoever.

This bottled brew poured a medium sized head of fine to large sized light brown colored mostly lasting bubbles that left behind a good lacing. The body was sediment filled making it very hazy, carbonated and dark brown in color. It had a brown malt mild vinous aroma and a tingly smooth caramel brown beer malty mouth feel. It had a mildy vinous caramel malt brown malt mildly doughy flavor. The mouth feel burns more as it warms up.

Bottle. This bottle says the ABV is 7%, not 10%. Whatever. Medium sized tan head with fine-medium sized bubbles that mostly diminished. Fast rising carbonation, opaque and a copper hue. Malty, caramel and alcohol aroma. Malty, caramel, brown sugar and alcohol flavor. Yummy in my tummy!! The mouthfeel started off as tingly, but as this beer warmed up it turned to a burning sensation. Medium-full bodied beer with fair lacing. This is an excellent beer IMO and definitely one worth getting if you can find it. Hope I have a chance to drink this one again!