Southampton 10th Anniversary Old Ale

Formerly brewed at Southampton Publick House
Style: Old Ale
Southampton, New York USA

750 from Once Upon a Vine, Richmond. Must have about 18 months on it now, right? Dark brown with hints of amber and ruby in a nice full pour. Very crisp and active head, decent retention. The aroma is still slightly boozy, perhaps a bit of a surprise, with just a hint of good rum coming through the nose. Lots of caramel malts detectable with some spices in there, dark and flavorful with a bit of bite toward the back end. A bit too heavily carbonated for me, and it actually interfered with my enjoyment to some extent. But the complexity and the warming features of the brew certainly win out.

Bottle. Wow is this beer coming into its own now or what? The flavors jump out at you. Full on dried fruits and vineous. Ok the other hand if you closed your eyes, you’d swear you were eating a Mounds bar. Plenty of caramel, burnt sugar an molasses if you’ve got a sweet tooth.

Sept. 2006 - Dark brown color with ruby highlights. Smallish head and little lacing. Aroma was caramel and dark fruits. Caramel flavor much more subdued in this than other old ales I’ve tasted, yet still sweet from dark fruits and molasses flavor. Carbonation was really heavy, annoyingly so until it warmed up. Was worlds better after sitting for some time, but still not the best old ale I’ve had.

Sampled at the RBPG; bottle courtesy of jasonm. Decent nose, like the sweet woody notes of a dubbel or barleywine. Sweet, sugary, with oak and vanilla. Lightly fruity. Clear golden amber body with a very thin head. Medium-heavy body, almost oily, with light-medium carbonation. Started sweet, with vanilla, oak, and some fig. Mild alcohol warming and vapor, sweet. Light dry nuttiness at the finish, with a smooth after. Nice ale.

75cL bottle courtesy of jasonm at Pittsburgh gathering. Deep brown in color, fizzy off white foam that dies quickly, very rich malt flavor bordering on syrupy, way overcarbonated.

side note: when is Sly Fox gonna figure out that you need headspace in a corked bottle for it to carbonate correcty? There was absolutely no headspace on this bottle, no matter how you tilted it, the cork was alway in 100% contact with the beer.

Nice old ale from a great brewer, just a little unbalanced. Aroma of dark malt and must with a strong alcohol backbone. Pour was a light brown with a one finger white head. Taste was way too alcoholic for me. Heavy dark malt and vanilla that is just beaten down by the insane alcohol burn. Strong bitter aftertaste that is more like burnt malt than hops. This is a decent beer, just terribly unbalanced.

Had the pleasure of sampling this at the 1/27/2008 Pittsburgh ratebeer.com gathering upstairs, Sharp Edge Creekhouse. It will be a long time, if ever I am invited again and I see a spread of bottles like I did there - ever again. I am not good enough for the beers that were that we sampled! For example, how about this beer; SH 10th anniv retired! Woody unburned aroma mixed in with hints of vanilla. Brownish orange in color and it is clear, not hazy. Good carbonation and rather finely fizzy. Bitter on the onset and bitter on the finish, but for a mild ale it holds true in between. As long as your constantly keeping this flowing, it’s OK! Bitter onslaught again on the finish. Overall just a little too much for my sissy lager taste buds.

Pours dark copper with caramelly brown head. The aroma has lots of smooth clean caramel with some nutmeg and cinnamon. Medium / thick creamy body with lots of fizzy carbonation. The flavor starts with lots of what’s on the aroma, but it is quite a bit drier. The finish is a bit papery and sweet with some pepper. Good old ale.