First time ever, but wanted to for a few years!
Pours a reddish amber, not like the doppelbocks I'm used to - more like a helles bock or like a Fullers ESB. Head puffs half a centimetre and then dies away with no lacing.
Aroma is all malt with a little bit of malt thrown in for good measure. But that malt is complex - figs, candy, dark berries, caramel. Everything sweet. No hops to speak of.
Taste really matches up with the aroma. Caramel. Browned butter. Home-made candies. Not a ton of booze at the beginning of the glass, but gets boozier and sweeter a little further down. There might be some hops at the end, but that just may be the booze playing tricks. One of the few beers, though, that really has that "warming" quality you get with whiskey or cognac.
Carbonation is light - which is my one minor grumble - wish it had a little more zip to it, to keep the sweetness a little at bay.
Overall: Think port, but less vinous. I REALLY like it, but then, I quite like malt bombs, which this is. Other than the colour, it's what I thought it would be. Probably the only one I'll have this season. I grabbed three more to see where it would go in a couple years, but not sure where - would it get more sweet? Because it doesn't strike me as all that "rough" or boozy right now.
Worth trying one now, and grabbing a couple more maybe for next Christmas or the one after that.
One last piece of amateurish advice - I normally don't fuss too much about glassware, but I think this is one where you need to be a little picky. I drank mine in my Sessions 99 tulip which is a little smaller and thinner. Not bad, but by the bottom of the glass, it got a lot sweeter.
Because it's such a sipper and the carbonation is light, I think those 16 oz wide-bottomed tulips that everyone has now, wouldn't be my glass of choice.
It occurred to me that perhaps the best way to drink this beer would be sharing it with someone in a couple of port or sherry glasses (and then cracking a second bottle!) Failing that, if you have a nice small, thin white wine glass that would be good too. Pouring a few ounces at a time might be wise as well, and might help retain some of the carbonation. (I thought that it would be pretty great if it were bottled-conditioned.)
Sorry for the rambling, but I'm glad we finally have this.
Looking for the original Bar Towel blog? You can find it at www.thebartowel.com.
We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.
Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!
We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.
Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!
Samichlaus
-
JeffPorter
- Beer Superstar
- Posts: 2552
- Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 9:39 am
- Location: Brampton, ON
Samichlaus
"What can you say about Pabst Blue Ribbon that Dennis Hopper hasn’t screamed in the middle of an ether binge?" - Jordan St. John
