Southampton 10th Anniversary Old Ale

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

Pours beautiful brown with huge frothy off-white head. Gorgeous in a snifter. Aroma is belgian by nature, very dark fruit and a little alcohol. Palate is smooth and creamy. Luckily the alcohol goes away. This tastes like a rich dubbel to me. Fruity and malty. Very excellent. Thank you nhorween.

The 10th Anniversary Ale from Southampton may be a celebration of the brewery’s continued success, but if it is, it’s a very muted party. In the most general view the 10th Anniversary Ale is a comparatively reserved beer, hinting at only the slightest ebb of its potential flavors. It is also, in taste, a very old beer, giving me the curious sensation that I was licking an old windmill. Despite the senescent flavors, the 10th Anniversary Ale is a solid offering from Southampton, though much less noticeable than the brewery’s other GABF ’06 offerings. It pours a very unhealthy and sickly looking brown with lots of particulate matter clouding up what may have been a more appealing shade of coffee. Though the appearance may indicate decay, the smell gently brushes the nose with dark and milk chocolates, the first time I’ve sensed both in a single beer (though I haven’t reviewed my reviews in awhile). There’s also an unmistakable smell of milk and, finally, a good dose of Scottish peat to the complement the aroma’s maturity. The body of the beer is very full and bubbly like an ebullient, obese chef, brimming with uncanny cheer. The chocolate from the smell returns with a taste closer to cocoa powder, paired with plums, red wine and an overall buzzy sensation. And again, something about the combined flavors and palate give the impression of “age”, as if I breathed in after opening an old chest or brushing the glaze of dust off an old mirror. I’ve never been one to promulgate the culinary qualities of museums and their contents, but the neutral flavor of antiquity is inoffensive. It mostly dictates the quality of the body, leaving a slight chalky sensation on the center of the tongue. Still, it’s nothing to balk at, and maybe even something to be appreciated. If the 10th Anniversary Ale is how Southampton chooses to recognize its success, so be it, though I would have assumed a producer of alcohol to do something more…unpredictably festive. Still, they’ve produced a fine beer with quiet elements, ideal for pairing with food, loud or soft.

A nut-brown beer with a brown head. The aroma is sweet malty with notes of caramel. The flavor has strong notes of alcohol which is present from the start to the finish with both a warming fealing as well as a note of metal, but it also has notes of caramel. The carbonation level is very high.

Big thanks to luiss for this one. Pours heavy ruby with 3-finger khaki head. Aroma of heavy vinous fruit, caramel malt, cobwebby earthy peaty chocolate, some sweet plum, molasses, and even a twinge of aged cheddar cheese. The flavor is like a medium bodied cabernet at first, with caramel malt, earthy notes, plus plum, blackberry, cherry, and even some cognac at the finish. The palate is dense, complex, well balanced, and just outstanding. Get ya some, even if you have to rive to Luiss’ house!

RBSG 2006 - DC Grand Tasting Lineup Ruby red, thick tan head, lots of lacing. Nose of hoppy and sweet malt. Not too descript. The flavor is sharp, lots of bitterness and caramelly molasses sweetness. Finishes a bit nausiating, decent beer, just a bit much.

brownish amber pour small small bubbled tan head. Malty aroma toffee’s and brown sugars, pretty 1-dimensional. Over carbonated palated lightly oily. Flavor is lost in some of the carb but its sweet and a bit grassy. Not very good.

GABF 2006. Bottle. The beer pours to a clear chestnut body with a fizzy white head. The aroma is sweet rolls. The flavor is overly sweet and sticky. Sugary and syrup. The palate is sticky. I’m starting to think there’s a bunch of fanboys for Southampton. The have a lot of highly rated crap. 6, 3, 5, 2, 11 =2.7

GABF 06. Aroma is fruity, wood, spicy. Taste is spicy, slightly roasty, dark fruits such as plums, dark grapes, with a tart finish.