Smuttynose Maibock

Almost clear, rich gold, small white head, adequate lacing. Honey, sweet malts, and yeast. Taste is too bready, too yeasty, to grassy, too floral for my preferences, and there is just a tad too much alcohol. Close, but it just doesn’t work. If I wanted that much bread and yeast I’d go with a less sweet Belgian saison or tripel.

Bottle sampled. Pours a cloudy orange with a off-white head. Aroma of light citrus, caramel, honey, bread, and pale malts. Flavor is full bodied and smooth with caramel, citrus, mellow malts and some spices with a dry bitter finish

Amber pour with a huge white head, big malt aroma. Malty flavor with a proper amount of hops to balance it out, almost dry finish. I love it. a touch thin on the mouth feel, but other wise great.

Appearance: Pours a cheery-looking orange body with a small, white head. Smell: An aroma filled with honey and spice and everything nice (i.e., dough and lemon). Taste: Light, sweetish caramel flavor with notes of bee-fresh honey and citrus fruits. Noticeable doughiness. Hop flavor and bitterness remain quite light. Wraps up with a very drying finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-body. Medium carbonation. Somewhat sticky mouthfeel. Drinkability: Works for me! A pretty good maibock.

Golden orange in colour, long lasting off-white coloured head, good lacing. The aroma is floral, some must, yeast, some light sourness, fruits - mainly apples. The flavour is of citrus, floral and herbal hops, quite spicy, noticable alcohol. Moderately hot mouthfeel, medium body, high carbonation. Finishes long, sweet, some spice, hot. Its okay in a weird sort of way, didn’t really grow on me.

650ml bottle from the <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/new-york/buffalo/premier-gourmet/443.htm target=blank>Premier Gourmet in Buffalo, New York for $4.99.
Purchased on August 20, 2007 and opened on August 28, 2007.
Bottled in 2007.

[2007 bottle] Pours a barely hazy gold color, with some great lacing. Dense malt aroma, some honey sweetness. A total malt-bomb of flavors, with some interesting yeast character and subtle hop bitterness. Full bodied, with slight alcohol warmth through the finish.

Bottle courtesy of Sammy: Poured a cloudy deep beige/orangey color ale with a huge foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of semi-sweet malt is dominant. Taste is a mix between some dry malt with some light sweetness and some light nutty notes. Body is full with some limited filtration with great carbonation. There was a dryness in this beer that I didn’t particularly enjoyed but otherwise it was a fine example of the style.

Wow, is this good. Though I love this style, too often I get renditions which are too hot and have this annoying monolithic malt profile. Here, the malt is not overly heavy--it shows a lot of nuance--and there is real hop character in the finish. Beautifully balanced.