Southampton 10th Anniversary Old Ale

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

750ml bottle. Cloudy, yeasty plum colored body even when the bottle was settled for a long time. Bread and sherry notes in the nose along with some lactic notes. Flavor has some nice bourbon, sweet plum, sweet raisin and tobacco - not overly sweet but sweet all around - with a lightness on that’s nice on the palate, but a richness that excites the tongue. I like it more and more through the bottle, from being mildly impressed at first to being thouroughly pleased by the end of the bottle.

Sampled November 2007
An easy pour produces a frothy, fairly large bubbled, initially four-finger thick, amber tinged, tan colored head. The beer is an opaque, concentrated amber color that shows a brilliantly clear, bright, deep ruby color when held up to the light. As I pour and note the head, it is quite apparent that this beer has some rich fruit notes to it; aromatic notes of brandy, raisins and concentrated berry notes are quite noticeable. this is confirmed once I set my focus on the aroma, rich aromatic notes of concord grapes join the other noticed fruit notes. Quite malty as well with aromas of caramelized malt sugars, richly toasted biscuits, aged malt, richly caramelized raisins. There is also a certain spicy almost woody note to the nose; a touch tannic, some spicy oak like notes, sort of like damp wood and actually probably influenced by the cork as it does smell a bit of musty cork. I can only assume it was the cork, but I really do like the added dimension of the barrel-like aromatics.

Well carbonated for and old ale, the beer definitely froths a bit as it hits my tongue. A couple swirls of my glass takes care of the excess carbonation; this smoothes the texture out a bit, though the beer still feels fairly light, perhaps a medium to full feeling as it rests on the tongue. Quite fruity tasting, though perhaps not quite as much as the aroma would have suggested. I taste notes of raisins, touches of prune and a finish that has some definite berry-like flavors to it. That oak barrel like note from the aroma is in the flavor as well; it reminds me a bit of musty wood, some definite spicy oak, perhaps a soft vanillin character (though this could also be malt influenced) and something like what is in the finish of a spicy cola. Flavors of deeply browned, rustic bread crust, concentrated toffee, chalky (though faint) dark roast malt flavors, toasted grain, caramelized brown sugar, . Within stylistic bounds, a lightly herbal hop note and a touch of bitterness in the finish defines the requisite hop character.

This more than likely has a healthy dose of cork taint to it, but I think that it actually adds something to this brew. At this point the beer would probably be to sweet and fruit focused without it, but I have a feeling that bottles without the cork taint will age over the long term much better. Definitely a tasty tipple, but it could definitely use some more complexity, especially the depth of the malt character seems to be a little bit on the shallow side.

750mL bottle drunk on 10/17/07 at some 16 months of age.
Wonderful appearance, with a clear, deep mahogany brown body, tinted with garnet, that is topped by plentiful amounts of moderately dense, beige head. Retention and lacing are excellent.
Talk about improvement. I guess this gets this year’s award for "Most Improved Beer". Had it when it was about three or four months old and was very underwhelmed. It was punchy-sweet then, with moderate alcohol dryness and just too much stickiness. Little/no complexity had emerged/developed.
Fast forward a year and I’m sitting here with one of the best, if not the best, old ales I can think of (4th dementia isn’t a true old ale). It dosent have any traditional yeast character, nor was it barrel-aged/blended as was the original style, but the malt flavors seem to be about the epitome of what I’d expect in an English old ale. Rich on the palate in its maltiness....but only to a reasonable extent, and tapering off in to some dryness, and importantly, dark fruitiness. The balance of dark fruit esters and malt sweetness here is nearly, if not, perfect. The tongue curls around light chocolate fudge-like notes that are immediately dispersed by more dry, almost woody-like medium malts. Raisin and vanilla notes look on from the sides of the palate, adding pleasant complexity and the flavors culminate in to an almost cola-like finish, that has just traces of alcohol to add dryness and create complexity with the malt sweetness. Chocolate-vanilla-raisin is the best approximation of flavor I can give, and the attenuation, at this point is near perfect as well. Tending sweet, as an old ale is apt to do, and maybe slightly too much so overall, but I’m also very sensitive to sweetness. Hard, crusty, and again woody malt notes are lightly intersparsed in to the flavor, giving it an elegant, almost aged-red-wine-like feel. Carbonation is medium-low and tight, helping to accentuate the supple, rich body. Really, really good and shockingly drinkable. I’ll be damned if this stuff dosent keep getting better as it sits out, but I don’t know yet, as everyone who shared this bottle, including myself, drank it down before I really gave it extended time to breath. Just that good. I’ll certainly be getting another bottle or two to try. Thanks to Beastiefan2K for the tip!

750ml Bottle: Heavily sweet aroma. Smells of raisins, malts, dark fruits, caramel, toasting, and a bit of chocolate. Poured brown with a hint of ruby in color with a large, foamy, light brown head that lasted throughout. Cloudy. Sparkling. Lots of large particles. Flavor is medium sweet. Tastes of malts, raisins, nuts, toasting, dark fruits and wood. Medium to full body. Thick, dryish texture. Soft carbonation. Sweet malty finish with hints of alcohol and bitter hops.

Bottle. Dark amber colour with a nice head. Aroma of alcohol, malt and little roastedness. Nice flavour of sweet malt, caramel but ends up quite strong, by the alcohol.

Pours deep red/brown with notes of hops, fruit and yeast. Big notes of caramel, malt, and herbs with a nice balanced hop finish.

Deep copper body with dark yeast sediment, thick, puffy light tan/buff head. Aroma of leafy hops, tobacco, light berries, and toast. Complex, layered body, rich, with figs, tobacco, bread pudding, cinnamon, caramel, berries, chocolate, and alcohol. This complexity envelops the palate after a few sips. This is exactly what I look for in an Old Ale. Compared to Old Herb, the palate is a bit rough, the esters are bitter, and the alcohol is a touch hot. Despite these flaws, I really enjoyed this beer.

Light chestnut colour with a beige head. Malty, dark dried fruity sweet aroma with alcohol and perfume notes. Malty, light sweet flavor with a balanced fruity and alcohol sweet note.