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Thanks to Tip Top for the bottle!

Pours beautifully - the color of good tea with a fine, longlasting cream colored head. Aroma is malt on top of malt - deep, clean, sweet malt (hints of Andechs Doppelbock Dunkel in there) with slightly smoky, fruity (dessert apple) nutty (hazelnut?) overtones. There may be a hop in there, but its presence is only noted by the lack of cloying overtones. They're like the reins on a horse...

And this one's a thoroughbred. Starts with a lush, complex, mouth filling maltiness, very much in character with the aroma; the depth is almost astounding. Deep caramel, very slight butterscotch (but not in a diacetyl-ish way), sweet apples, nuts (almonds, hazelnuts), faint subtle smoke, just goes on and on, but enough underlying earthy bitterness to keep it from getting cloying. The alcohol makes its presence known, no question, but it's a friendly gentle warming surge, the vapors wafting up into the sinuses to carry the flavors to where they can best be discerned. Beautiful, gentle carbonation. Finishes with an earthy, round, malty cleanness, the lingering alcohol similar to a good slightly smoky scotch and water... brilliant.

I'd put this one up there with the late lamented Woodstock Braveheart, unquestionably one of the two or three best wee heavies I've had.

Price: $12.00 Served In: Pint Glass