 hopscotch (4379), Vero Beach, Florida, USA
May 3, 2008
Bottle... Lightly hazed orange ale with a small, creamy, off-white head. The herbal, almost perfumey aroma is full of pine, resin, caramel, maple syrup and a mingling of several tropical fruits. Full-bodied and very chewy with medium carbonation. Huge malt backbone with tons of residual sweetness and gobs of caramel. However, the sugar ends up being only an afterthought as soon as the wonderful, heavy, tongue-numbing hop bitterness kicks in. Finishes sticky, very bitter and mildly tangy with a touch of caramel sweetness. Although I can immediately feel the effects of the relatively high ABV, it doesn’t rear its head in the mouth, throat or nose. Well done!
Crit (2213), New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Jul 16, 2008 One word ...YUCK !!
Amber with thin fast fading beige head.
Alcoholic cyrstal malt nose, light hops.
Starts sweet, then some hops, which are immediately overshadowed by a harsh alcohol bite.
Unpleasant lasting bitter end.
Rough and unfinished like a poor quality barleywine
MadMan (470), Mesa, Arizona, USA
Jul 15, 2008 Bottle, from Whole Foods. Pours a deep red amber with small beige head. Aroma is full of pine and malt with hints of other hop flavors to come, very lovely and very strong. Flavor is bitter and potent with alcohol and hop flavors. Some sweetness is present towards the end with evident crystal malt but the woody hops dominate. Finish is long and balanced by sweetness and bitterness. This one went down far too quickly for such a potent ale, a tribute to the elegance of it’s flavors...a strong word for a such a big beer. Time to go back and get more, what the hell was I thinking?
bhensonb (2720), Woodland, California, USA
Jul 13, 2008 Bomber from South Bay Drug - as SA Double Red Ale. Reddish amber color with a foamy beige head. Deep roasted malt aroma with hints of hop to come. Medium plus body with creamy carbonation. Flavor is red/roasted caramel malt with a heck of a lot of hop. Heat at 9.2%? What heat. Awesome brew. Finish is slightly sweet, but with the abundance of hop, it’s hardly noticeable.
Bockyhorsey (1915), Mesa, Arizona, USA
Jul 12, 2008 22oz bomber. Good floral aroma. Deep amber body with thin birge head. Pour look little flat. Good fruity plumbs but near the finish the sweet carmel malt was present. A moderate dry bitter and caramel aftertaste left on palate. good brew.
hellbilly (772), scottsdale über alles, Arizona, USA
Jul 7, 2008 pour a really dark rich amber or cherry stained wood with a soft sponge-like light beige head. lots of web-like lacing on the glass. aromas of caramel, malted grain, light pine/fresh rosemary similar to standing near it in the garden after you just accidentally stepped on it, grapefruit, orange, floral, earthy and grassy as well. the palate is surprisingly NOT cloyingly sweet! it does seem to sweeten a bit as it warms but at that point it doesn’t matter since it’s nearly gone... the flavor is spicy and stingy both from alcohol and hops. pine, floral, citrus and copious amounts of nondescript hops thrown in on top of a woody, caramel-y malt backbone. medium to full body leaves a slight residue on the lips. this goes down way too easily at 9.2%...
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