Silver Gulch Grand Reserve

Brewed by Silver Gulch Brewing & Bottling Co.
Style: Doppelbock
Fairbanks, Alaska USA

Date: 07/17/2005
Mode: Bottle
Source: Trade
Vintage: 2002

tiny pfft upon opening the bottle, rich fruity reaches the nose before the cap is even removed, pours rich and thick with a layer of muddy sediment in the bottom of the bottle, opaque dark brown, whispy head, rich syrupy sweet aroma with lots of rich ripe fruit, the body is initally thin but gets thicker towards the end of the sip, rich malt flavor, brown sugar sweetness, gets a bit cloying at times, a touch of tartness early on but never seen again, warming, an even bitterness in the finish, needs a few more years to fully develop

Aroma: 9/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.9/5.0
Score: **4
-------- /> The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

12oz bottle acquired in trade with DarkElf (thanks!). 2002 Vintage. Poured a dark and cloudy brown color with a small sized off white head. Aromas of toffee, caramel, nutty, roast, smoke, and some soy sauce. Tastes of toffee, molasses, light soy sauce, roast and smoke. Syrupy body with some alcohol in the finish. Sweet and bordering on cloying.

2002 vintage shared by goldtwins: Pours a still viscous cloudy murky brown with only a thin ring of off-white head. Complex rich caramel maltiness in the aroma shows some signs of mild oxidation. Body starts with a sweet, rich, caramel maltiness balanced with some earthy hoppy bitterness and a touch of butterscotch complexity before a warming finish. A very nice beer that would’ve probably been best enjoyed in 2004 but is still very drinkable.

Pours dark brown with a thin tan head. Smells of dark fruit, caramel, some roasted malt, chocolatey. Tastes sweet with molassess, caramel, toffee, some dark fruity hints, peppery finish.

2002 Vintage. Poured a dark brown color with a thin off-white head. Aroma of aged sweet malt with plenty of alcohol. Also notes of chocolate and raisins. Aroma was nice and thick, full bodied and very warming. Sweet and fruity. The finish has a mild bitternessbut still sweet and mildly tart.

Poured a murky brownish red color with a small, tan head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma was filled with oxidized sherry, light smoke, roast, and some soy as well. Taste of some molasses, more soy, dark fruits, roast, light smoke, and some alcohol. I got some bitter notes as well, but i’m not sure where they came from.

21-Jan-08 (12-oz bottle: Purchased 22-Jul-05 for $4.00 at the Silver Gulch Brewery in Fox, AK) I visit my buddy Jim up in Alaska every year or two, and we bought several bottles of the Grand Reserve at the brewery on one of my past trips. To my delight, he still has a bottle in the back of the fridge and he needs help making some space, so I’m volunteering my assistance. Excitedly, I reach for a bottle opener, but there’s absolutely no noise when prying off the cap, so this beer is pretty much flat. Pouring the beer confirms the lack of carbonation: no head whatsoever. The beer is dark ruddy-brown and very cloudy. Aromas of concentrated dark fruits, soy sauce, tawny port, and rich earth. The first impression when drinking this beer is of an extreme version of a well-aged Samichlaus, though it’s more intense than that. It’s sharply earthy with sweet, dark fruits like prunes and raisins, and soy sauce, but an interesting tartness and a modest bitterness offset the sweetness. In fact, for all the sweet, dark, fruity flavor, the full-bodied, heavy, almost syrupy beer is remarkably dry on the palate, especially in the finish. While carbonation is gone, there is enough sharpness from the strong earthiness to keep the beer from seeming like flat Coke. Almost certainly, this beer won’t improve with age, so I’ll drink my last bottle back home very soon. It’s probably not a beer that most would enjoy at this point, but I love cellared beers and this one is damn fine.

Bottle: Dark brown, burnt caramel edges, thin light beige head, sparce lacing.   Big molasses, fig, raisin, and dates on the nose.   And i mean BIG!   Huge raisiny flavor, molasses sweetness, bready, but yet some fairly stern hop bitterness on the backside.   The front seems very mature, but the backside reminds me of a young barleywine.   Slightly chocolatey as well.   Big in body, mouthfeel is fairly moderate tho.   ABV is well hidden, but the finish is very warming.   Loads of raisins and dates, very strong.   Great Doppelbock because it doesn’t have that huge soy aspect that I usually detest.   This is a hefty beer.   Thanks DarkElf for the opportunity to sample this rare gem!