Adventurous brandy-port aged ‘old ale’ reverberates convincingly with lavish liquor luster. Lovely cherry-bruised cognac warmth guides rum-buttered whiskey nip and orange-candied Grand Marnier snip in creamily caramelized vanilla setting. It spiced brandy flourish lightens the acrid fusel esters consuming the port-wined bourbon finish.
On tap at Ambulance, easygoing English-styled Old Ale hybridized with Imperial Stout retains soft-watered setting to lighten “blueberry-forward Ethiopian and chocolate-forward Sumatran coffee” roast as well as wispy cola nuttiness.
Muddled Irish Stout mildly bourbon-aged then blended with an English porter and dark-lagered schwarzbier seems unresolved, taste-wise. Subdued brown chocolate malting receives leathery tobacco roast, dewy peat earthiness and nutty respite for off-dry medium body that may lack stylistic conclusiveness, but never offends.
On tap at Ambulance, subtly Scotch-aged 8th anniversary English old ale brings oaken vanilla restraint to mocha-dried dark fruiting and dewy peat bottom. Toffee-spiced cocoa nibs and brown chocolate tones as well as restrained red grape, raisin and date illusions gain earthen hop astringency.
On tap at Ambulance, elegant 2016 medium body (with well hidden 10.9% ABV) offers toffee-spiced caramel sugaring and brown chocolate sweetness to molasses-draped dried fruiting. Sugarplum, cherry, fig, raisin and tannic grape illusions pick up light bourbon tinge at buttery finish.
Precariously labeled an ‘old ale,’ this chocolate-flavored moderation (6% ABV despite equally misguided strong ale appellation) needs to increase its sweet ‘n sour cocoa-dried brown chocolate spicing and Madagascan bourbon vanilla influence. Instead, the watered-down flavor profile remains distant. Whimsical molasses, toffee and port notes never fully integrate. And its mildly coarsened hop toasting becomes a tad phenol.
Tranquil updated 2013 version of Fourth Dimentia Olde Ale shows tremendous depth and complexity. Aged for nine months, barleywine-styled full body triumphantly blends marshmallow-toasted burnt caramel malting with ripe dark-fruited sweetness, lilting sherry-burgundy-port wining and syrupy molasses sapping. Massive prune, raisin and sugared fig overtones enrich candied toffee-chocolate-vanilla surge. Bruised cherry, orange and apple uprising further enhances decadent dessert treat.
Well calibrated mahogany-bronzed altbier hides lusty alcohol fueling beneath musty mocha malt profile and dark-spiced dried fruiting. Cherry, fig, date and banana reach a dewy earthen meadow and leafy hop field, picking up a mild vermouth kick on the autumnal trail. Not truly definitive, but close enough.
Insanely interesting ‘food of the gods’-referenced old ale built on a recipe scientists claim may be earliest kiln-smoked alcoholic chocolate elixir (from 1200 BC). Subtle honey-dripped brown chocolate and vanilla influence upended by lingered chili-peppered burn. Aztec cocoa powder and cocoa nibs bolster sunflower-seeded ginger-snapped cinnamon spicing and teasing orange-cherry fruiting. Just a tad elusive to be perfect.
Debonair old ale matured in whiskey barrels brings Scotch-candied sweetness to hickory-charred peat-smoked chocolate roast. Viscous molasses richness coats mild bourbon, port, and Muscat wine illusions as well as ancillary prune, black cherry, and raisin puree nuances. Rich dessert treat, aged in Highland Park single malt whiskey casks for a dozen years, is perfectly suited for dark ale, barleywine, and stout devotees.
Bold ‘old ale’ places brandy-soaked brown chocolate spicing above toasted marzipan sweetness and cognac-boozed orange-bruised cherry puree haze. Toasted almond, candied apple, rum raisin, and overripe prune soak syrupy molasses-sapped toffee backdrop.
Hearty dark ale richly flavored by sharp-grained mocha malting, plump raisins, and hazelnut. Smooth carbonation settles as bouquet of flowery hops coat the tongue. Tad flat cocoa finish negates creaminess.