Southampton Grand Cru

Brewed by Southampton Publick House
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Southampton, New York USA

2005 Vintage; Tasted December 29, 2005: Light red color with a medium head. Very crisp, sour cherry aroma. The taste is heavy on the fruit, highlighting apples and cherries. The sourness dies down from the aroma. Struck me as more of a lambic than a Belgian Strong.

2005 Bottle Vintage, Sampled December 2005
Pours a hazy orangish amber color and is topped by a frothy light tan colored head. The beer is well carbonated as well, and I would almost expect a bit more of a head at this level of carbonation. The aroma has a woody component to it (remnants of the cork), as well as a slight acidity, notes of pear and tart apple. The aroma is quite earthy as well, with hints of musty clay, perhaps a bit of a musty note, and an underlying spiciness that I would describe as earthy as well. As my notes gets used to the aroma a sweetness begins to pick up a bit; it mostly accentuates the fruitiness a bit more, but highlights a bit of maltiness. The alcohol in the finish starts to become noticeable as well, with a bit of hotness to it as well, though only a hint.

The beer has a soft, almost creamy mouthfeel to it. I like how this beer is quite life and quaffable, though watch out as the alcohol will definitely sneak up on you, despite the other flavor notes. The beer is quite a bit sweeter than I was expecting from the aroma, but is quite inline with what I was expecting before trying this beer. The sweetness really accentuates the fruit character; notes of sweet plums are prominent, but I also get notes of raisins, pear, and Macintosh. The finish is spicy with an earthy note as well as a lightly astringent spice note, which provides some bitter balance to the upfront fruity sweetness.

I am not quite too sure what I was expecting from this beer, but it is quite a nice end to an Christmas day of overeating and stuffing myself. This beer has a certain richness to it (in both the sweetness and the earthy spiciness) that is quite nice and fulfilling. There is a hint of tartness to this beer, and if there is one complaint it is that this beer could use a bit more tartness; the level provided by some aged Fantome’s would be classic. This beer is quite enjoyable, though I was perhaps expecting a bit more complexity and depth here.

Orange, alcohol, olive?, and malt. Little to no carbonation. Whats in the nose is in the mouth with a decent amount of barnyard. Fairly underwelmed by this one.

2005 bottle: Hazy orange body with no head. Aroma is oranges and peaches with spices, yeast, and a dominant malt profile. Slightly acidic as well. It’s quite chewy, and the peachy orange flavor works really well. Finishes sweet with very light acidity. Worthy of the Gouden Carolus Cuvee of the Emperoror glass. Finally this brewery lives up to its high reputation. Fantastic! 8/4/9/5/19 RERATE: hazy orange, moderate head, good lace and retention. Aroma is spi ed with orange and anise. Thicker sweeter malt profile than a lot of Belgians. Very sweet finish with a relatively unique spicing. Strange, it’s not really my thing anymore. I don’t know if it’s the difference between the 2005 and 2006 bottle or whether my palate has changed that much. I’m tempted to say both...

Pours deep amber with a light white head that dissipates incredibly quickly. Honeyish aroma with coriander and some acidity. Tons of choclatey malts and oak, cab.-like. Hot and phenolic.Not really toos sour but very finky in a not too pleasant way.

750 mL. Sounds like Old Growth and I had similar issues. The cork was nearly impossible to get out -- broke nad needed screwed out -- but once it came, there was almost no pop and the beer poured as though uncarbonated. Hazy brown pour with aromas of figs and various other dried fruits. There’s a sourness in the aroma I didn’t expect as well. Upon tasting it, it’s nearly compltely uncarbonated, but still tastes good. There was a good bit of lambo-sourness to it, that I thought might mean I had an infected bottle, what with the lack of carbonation and all, but it sounds like that’s just how this beer is. Very interesting, like a Belgian strong that is balanced with lambo sourness rather than hops. Interesting but not a personal favorite.

2005 Bottle, from New World Beer, Fruity. Prune/raisin/fig, pear, whisky, caramel, orange, cherry. Kinda cidery, Tad hazy, Much more onfinal pour, brownish orange color. No Head. Bitter flavors, Sour. Like aroma, with grapefruit, cherry real strong. Some vine creepin’ in. Medium bodied, creamy mouthfeel, TART dry mouthfeel, Still young, though no pop when I opered it wondering if it’s bad. Sour thing was very strong.

hazy gold, big, lacey, well retained white head. aroma of musk, oranges, orange concentrate, fruit, and what I can only describe as salt and vinegar chips(not in a bad way). thick and sweet mouthfeel. flavours of orange rind, booze, mango, and hard candy. excellent.