Best By August 2009; Sampled July 2009
A solid pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a three-finger thick, light tan colored head. The beer is a dirty amber color that shows a lightly hazed, orange-amber hue when held up to the light. The aroma smells heavily of caramelized crystal malt and toasted grain up front, but there is a backdrop of grapefruit zest and a hint of herbal hop character. This is definitely a malt forward beer with notes of toffee, brown sugar coated bread crust as well as some berry / raisin malt notes.

Lightly sweet up front, while the finish has harsh, almost phenolic, herbal hop character that just grates across the palate and finishes with an astringent, harsh bitterness. The second sip is just a little bit better as the harshness seems to get tempered just a bit by the ample malt character. The malt does provide a rich biscuit-like character, some touches of caramelized malt sugars, nicely browned bread crust flavors and a hint of iced sweet tea notes. Still the rich malt never does shake the harsh, astringency that mars the finish of this beer. The body is light enough, but has enough body to keep it from being anywhere near watery; it would be quite quaffable if not for the faults.

This could be an interesting, complex malty beer if not for the harshness, even without it though I don’t get the sense that this would be great.

Serving Type: 22oz Bottle   Vessel Type: Tulip   Price:$9.70