Wood-toned sour malt aromatics juxtapose sweet Scotch mouthfeel interrupting muted hop-spiced dryness. Cedar-chestnut finish loses grip after several passes.
Tag Archives: strong ale
DOGFISH HEAD IMMORT ALE ‘X’
Outstanding oak-barreled version of ‘luscious and complex’ full-bodied Immort Ale may be most flavorful 11% alcohol drink available. Syrupy malts invoke heavy maple sapping blitzing bruised orange, overripe cherry, and stewed prune thickness. Overpowering Band-Aid aroma picks up peppery spicing and juicy red apple-pear smoothing before sugary chocolate creaminess scampers to eternal yeast-lacquered finish.
LAKE PLACID UBU ALE
Likable garnet-hued English-styled ale brings lingered smoky malt dryness to brown sugared raisin-fig conflux, rye-breaded sourdough midst and sweet tobacco leaf crisping. Leathery earthen hop resin and grassy wheat-chaffed parch prompt pallid quasi-copper ale comparison, but unresolved Blackstrap molasses finish goes astray. On tap, dried fruited nature and smoked cocoa malting receive deeper acetone vigor.
(STEINHAUS) FAT WEASEL ALE
WEYERBACHER DECADENCE
Curious 10th anniversary American strong ale (brewed with honeyed spices) suffuses resounding eucalyptus-anise nosing with sugary malt stickiness, curacao orange reminder, and rare cardamom-spiced botanical gentian seduction. Prune-date sequel sets up thorough nutmeg, cinnamon, coriander, and rotting pumpkin autumnal seasoning girding fleeting barleywine-like finish. An herbal remedy?
(BALADIN) SUPER BALADIN ALE
ERAWAN ALE
LE CHEVAL BLANC TORD-VIS MAPLE ALE
(STERKENS) BOKRIJKS KRUIKENBIER
Top-fermented billowy-headed amber-glazed Belgian strong ale with firmly centered whiskey malting and candi-sugared yeast thicket clouding lemon-soured apricot-peach tang. Ginger-snapped banana-clove-coriander wisp adds luster, but tentative dry-hopped citric finish merely teases tongue, lowering complexity.
(WYCHWOOD) GOLIATH ALE
Proud brewers of fine Scarecrow Ale and Fiddler’s Elbow return with cordial copper-hazed orange-highlighted pale ale. Buttery caramelized malts confirm bread-y yeast nose as lemony candied sweetness and soured citrus twang backup encrusted grain smear to crystalline water finish for light-bodied elegance.