Wow…what a beer.
I let this sit down in my basement for days to allow settling and for proper serving temperature (55°). As I poured it, I knew this was a sipping beer. It poured with lower viscosity than any beer I have reviewed on this site. The color was a deep amber/brown color, with much more head than I was expecting. The smell was intense. Overwhelmingly malty. Carmel and nutty (hazelnut) flavors were prominent, drowning out most of the hop aroma. I would guess that some burnt grains were used.
At first taste I had to wonder what my friend Adam thought, as this was his first time participating in Drink It With Us Friday. If anyone expects this beer to taste like “beer” (in the general mass market sense) they are in for a shock. There was little carbonation in my bottle, and the mouth-feel was thick (syrupy), but not unbearable. The texture made the high alcohol content seem light and warm. What an explosion of flavors: Caramel, hazelnut, figs/raisen(anyone else notice this?), and sweet cane-sugary tasting malts. I think I would gag if I threw this beer straight back into my throat. Letting the beer sit on my tongue opened up all the flavors.
The after taste was unique and delicious, sealing the deal for me on this beer. All of the subtleties noted above left a wine and toasted graham after tasted. It was like a liquid meal, practically.
Overall, I’d rate this beer highly. Honestly, it is not a beer I would drink every week. The extremely sweet flavor would wear me out. But this is an EXCELLENT after dinner drink, especially on a cold winter day when one needs a little alcohol to warm them up. I do believe I’ll have my last one tonight. I’m curious: What did you think? Yay or nay?
Nice review. For the most part, my peceptions of the brew were very similar. I would add that the fruit I got hints of cherries (almost a chocolate covered cherry note). Since the beer was also bready in quality, it was much like a cherry pie or (odd as it may sound) cherry pop tart in aroma and, to some degree, the taste. I also caught notes of maple. There is little doubt that a ton of fruit was present in the beer. The interesting thing is that I liked this beer a couple of years ago and I never would have liked it when I first drank beer…but now I love it. It’s interesting how tastes change and develope. I’m going to age a couple for 25 years and see all about it. Luckily, I got bottles from 2005 so that’s a head start.
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One more note. I think that the words “drowning out,” when it comes to the hops, is a pretty acurate depiction. This beer is actually hopped at about 70 IBU’s which is like IPA levels.
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This is a very interesting beer indeed. Its cool to have one and then if you can put one away for a couple of decades. Imagine being able to link back to THIS post on your follow up post 20 years from now!
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Well, I’m the “Adam” referred to in your post and I did enjoy the Hardy Ale. Not quite the sophisticated (or the frequent) beer drinker, I was quite surprised by the drinking experience. I thought I was drinking brandy when, all of a sudden, a wonderful sweet beer cried out from the back of my mouth on its way down, as if to say “Don’t forget that I’m really a beer!” All-in-all, I’m not sure I will stock my home with vast quantities of this grown up ale, but I will keep at least one for a special occassion.
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Adam,
That’s great. I think that I speak for both Nate and myself when I say that we are just glad that you are trying new things. We’re glad that people are able to expand their tastes and try new things (like them or not). I hope that you keep tuning in and giving your feedback every time that you are able. Don’t worry about whether or not you are able to explain this or that flavor or taste. I know that I’m only able to explain what I taste because I’m at over 600 beers that I’ve tried. Believe me when I tell you that it took a while and a lot of learning and reading to be able to speak about beer the way I do now (And I need to learn a lot more). Thanks for stopping by and commenting…you are one of our target demographics for this site.
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