Southampton Grand Cru

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

2003 Version- Light fizzy in color. Sweet smell upon pour with a little sour. Never loses its body throughout drinking it.

#800! Big thanks to zathrus13 for sending this one my way. The cork alone was quite the challenge. For some reason I always have interesting experiences on these milestone beers. Despite breaking this stubborn one in half, I managed to extract the stump with my trusty waiter’s tool. Poured a lightly hazy light amber color with a gorgeous pillow white head that lasted throughout. The light color, however, was in no way indicitive of the massive amounts of complexity packed into this brew. Huge nose of orange marmalade, wood, yeast, and dark fruits. Flavor is composed of slightly sour blackberries, blood oranges, anise, oak, and hyacinths. Layers of complexity that I cannot begin to do justice to in this description. Perfect mouthfeel. This was absolutely stunning, worthy of its place in the top 50, and a memorable milestone beer. Wow. NOTE: This rated version was from the Southampton bottling. The PA bottling, while still excellent, lacks some of the complexity, most notably lacking the depth of dark fruit characters. This is more reminiscent of the Hoegaarden Grand Cru. I’ve left the original rating up.

sweet and very spicy aroma, pours a nice light amber color, small head, nice lacing, the taste is very sour, then changing to a nice sweetness, very spicy and floral tasting.

This brew was not at all what i was expecting, but let me say a nice supprise. Pours a copper color with a just off-white head, slightly hazy. Aroma was very fruity, with hints of bitter orange peel, spices, clove, and light stale hopping. Taste was very crisp, with a great fruity start. As this brew warmed the fruitiness stepped back a bit and let the sweetness show through a bit more. Great citrus fruits show through with a nice spice finish. Some nice dried out older hops finished this brew off with just the lightest bitterness. I wasn’t really expecting the tartness of this brew, just a nice subtle sourness that really made for a unique flavor. The 9% really left me wondering how, this brew just seemed like a great easy drinking brew.

Surprising grand cru with bold spice. Good carbonation, full mouthfeel. Must be consumed with food. Lots of spice: cloves, cinammon, licorice anise, corriander and hops and malt for balance. Also the orange and tropical fruit and candy sugar cream in yeast. Like an American over-the-top Fantome. And that’s some complement.

Sampled at the DC/MD/VA/WV/PA Ratebeer Gathering 11/20/04. Pours a cloudy copper with an off white head. Taste is yeasty and spicey with notes of coriander, orange zest and an old cellar. Has some sweet, sour and tart tones to it. Mouthfeel is full and round with subtle carbonation. Nice beer.

Very cloudy gold. Smells like good cheese, bit milky and sour, a bit moldy, very nice. Tastes nicely fruity, big berry and apple kisses, quite sugary. Bit spicy. Nice.

2004 Vintage Hazy golden-yellow in colour. Initially thick, dense, rocky white head that subsides to a lasting thin film. Strong, turbid carbonation lend to a effervescent, lively palate and little islands of foam. Fantastic lacing. Sharp, tangy, citric aroma. Fresh, popping flavor of pear and crisp apple. Notes of corriander and orange peel. Mildly tart and sour. Lasting, pleasant, full-bodied, and well-rounded mouthfell. A terrific beer. THANKS to AustinPowers for the trade.