Rock Art Magnumus ete Tomahawkus ESB3 Ale

Brewed by Rock Art Brewery
Style: American Strong Ale
Morrisville, Vermont USA

Bottle. Pours a copper body with a white head. Sweet fruit esters citrus, grapefruit and some light apple. Coriander, earth, per-fumy hoppiness with a pine and caramel finish. Decent ale.

Bottle. Pours a bright transparent burnt orange color with a small off white head that recedes to a small film island and lots of sporadic lacing. Aroma contains spicy hops, some light fruit notes and some toasted malt notes. Palate is lightly fluffy with a dirty film left behind on the tongue. Flavors of spicy hop notes, light toasted malt notes. Finishes dirty with a heavy film and a mouth coating.

Gift from Stegosaurus. Bottled, cloudy pour with a spicy hop. A caramel malt flavor with a bread like finish. I enjoyed this one.

My Bottom Line:
Orange pith and lenient caramel plunge into a very bitter and lengthy finale in this unbalanced hophead’s strong ale.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam tops the nearly clear amber, marred by flying chunks of yeast.
-The nose is very fruity, but quite simple.
-The disproportionate hop bitterness is resinous and grassy.
-Effervescence is cushiony and the body lean, making this somewhat drinkable despite its intensity.
-With The Alchemist around and McNeill’s offering more-than-decent hop bombs in bottles, this brew doesn’t even stand out in Vermont, let alone New England.

Bottle.

Okay first of all, mine is labeled "ESB2" not "ESB3" so I’m not sure what in Sam Hill is going on here. This one pours a hazy dark orange, with millions of tiny bubbles. Lots of icy lace. Looks awesome. The smell is bitter malts and flowery hops. A richness in the malt that smells a bit dark. Hops are bitter and, as the brewers themselves say, "aggressive." The taste is first bitter woody hops, then pine oil and perfumey flowers. It’s an overhop; strong like an Imperial IPA. The feel is thick and creamy with a bitter bite on the way down. It’s a little too bitter with no balance as a respite. Good taste but a tad too much.

Bomber shared by Luc (merci!), served cool in a tulip glass. MA26/09.

App.: Very cloudy orange-amber with a rocky white froth. Aroma: Starts off with lots of berry fruitiness then morphs to caramalt and savoury mash, quite sweet and sticky malts, rye bread crust, orange marmalade, some yeast and every once in a while, a little barf or cheese or dust note...enigmatic. Palate: Medium-full body, full, shard effervescence. Flav.: Slightly dirty rye bread and marmalade, blood orange, grapefruit, slight burnt malt, pine, slightly earthy mushroom; quite sweet with a wallop of bitterness and some rich malts to finish.

Pretty nice stuff, particularly for Rock Art

Sampled on draft at Zeno’s in State College PA this beer poured a hazy yellow-gold color with an enormous yellow-white head. The aroma was moderately strong fruity and floral hops and not a whole lot else. The flavor was bitter, sour, crisp and fairly full of fruity and floral hops with a light sour malt underbody. The finish was dry and bitter. Somewhat undistinguished.

A hazy amber ale with a thick frothy off white head. A bready fruity extreme ESB, with nice pungeant hops, light berries, and wet dough.In mouth, a dry crisp malt with notes of honey, restrained hops, subtle and piney, a bit short, gin alcohol in finale. Medium to rich bodied. A decent Rock Art. Bomber shared rom probstk, May 26 2009.