Ashburton

Lighter chocolate here with some hints of dark fruit. Medium light body.

Cocoa and milk chocolate. Yum.

See earlier posts because this has never changed. Smooth and drinkable.

Robust toffee malt nose. Taste is blend of honey malt and hop, not really to my liking. Yet it’s an easy drinking brew.

Belgian ipa? The nose is closer to a tripel but the yeast is lighter here. Well balanced hop-malt. Quite grainy. Hop dominates in the end

Sweet roast coffee! Lots of roast. Sweetness probably from dark fruit.

Purchased at Downtown Crown Wine and Beer

Lots of tropical notes esp mango in the nose and taste. Hops to me are astringent and hit my throat with a interesting pineyness (without being annoying)

Pours light amber. Light malt nose. Taste has some tannic woodiness on the bottom but still has a maltiness throughout. Light plus hops starts to take over but it ends well balanced.

Mango peach nectar in both nose and taste with a good grainy malt quickly replacing that fruit character with some citrusy blend. Nose is more robust than taste. Finishes dry. Lots of hop flavor without the hop bitterness.

Earned the Pride365 (Level 10) badge!

Pours a very light straw. Quite floral, with some grape sweetness. Grainy but very quaffable. Clean and light bodied.

Purchased at Downtown Crown Wine and Beer

Dry throughout. Some herbal, hay and grape skins. Noble hops. Bought with three other cans at Threes outlet in Moynihan Hall on NYC.

Damn. Good. Rauchbier.

This is from the original Brimstone Brewery a year before Frederick Brewing bought it (which was later bought by then Denver-based Flying Dog. Dark Mahogany color. Lots of oxidation. Too much in fact. Raisins a plenty but not worth drinking and rating

So we had this variant too, and the whiskey gives it a nice peaty malt character. Some oxidation. More flavorful than the calvados version

Wine like yet sweet like aged calvados. Fairly malty. Syrupy and a bit off (heck it is 21 years old). Still has a noticeable alcohol presence.

We found a second (and sadly last) of this one. It is a bit less sweet than the first we had two weeks ago. A bit more oxidation and a stronger alcohol presence.

A night of old beers tonight! Nice smoke/burnt malt nose with a bit of alcohol. Despite the limited oxidation it maintains itself respectably. Raisiny as expected . Remarkable for a 24 year old brew!

First one of these with a twist off cap. Pours a darker shade of reddish brown than the year earlier vintage. Nose has similar molasses notes. Lesser complex too. Held up, but I suspect the cap took its toll here, but at age 21 years, pleasant.

Earned the The Wine of Beers (Level 38) badge!

Second in an evening of three old vintages of this one. Body is slightly lighter but still a damn good beer.

Pours dark brown and clear. 24 years old and damn good. Rich vanilla-molasses malt throughout. Sweetness grows slightly. Impressively smooth and the alcohol is incredibly well blended. Barely any oxidation

Earned the Photogenic Brew (Level 88) badge!