Spicy floral hop tingle juxtaposes biscuit-y cereal-grained cornmeal sweetness. Ripe red grape-cherry-nectarine fruiting girded by grassy earthiness. Cracked wheat spine gets cardboard-y and reticent chocolate malting tails off, but pulpy center maintains.
Monthly Archives: January 2009
SOUTHERN TIER BELGIAN STYLE TRIPEL ALE
Thin translucent gold flop buries candied Belgian sugar, mild orange-apricot-banana sop, and subdued cracked wheat spine beneath solvent diacetyl grimness. Even its silky hop bittering gets phenol.
SOUTHERN TIER BACK BURNER BARLEYWINE
Clear chestnut-amber hue too tepid for robust barleywine class. Neither chewy nor gooey enough to convince discriminating aficionados. Oaken Chinook hop dryness counters brown sugared molasses fade, reclining red cherry sway, tucked-in peach-pear dash, and finishing bruised orange upsurge. Wispy spiced rum-Courvoisier lilt fails to ignite.
SOUTHAMPTON WINTER WILLIE ALE
Dry fruited prune-fig souring and roasted chestnut dirge override tepid hop bittering. Astringent finish reminiscent of dimmer copper ales, lacking expected holiday seasoning.
SOUTHAMPTON TRIPLE ABBEY-STYLE ALE
Subtle Belgian-styled triple brings lemony orange blossom tang and vanilla-banana-bubblegum sweetness to candi-sugared yeast setting. Clove-coriander spicing and fennel-carrot adjunct sit below latent black-peppered menthol freshness subsuming broadened banana bread buttering. Just a tad unassuming.
SOUTHAMPTON 10TH ANNIVERSARY OLD ALE
Fitting coppery red ale celebrates ’96 commencement with expansive offering. Initial raisin-pecan-date affluence slips into mushy overripe peach, bruised orange, and strawberry-raspberry sanctuary underlined by casual roasted nuttiness. By brawny finish, sinewy molasses malting picks up cask-like rum, bourbon, and whiskey illusions.
SOUTHAMPTON STOUT
Brazenly charcoal-burnt dry stout overhauls black chocolate souring with charred hops, toasted oats, and smoked malts. Anise pleats coffee bean, espresso, and soy milk illusions to increasingly bitter powdered cocoa finish.
SOUTHAMPTON SECRET ALE
Despite deep copper penny hue and lingered honey-maple tease, this busy ‘Dusseldorf altbier’ lets tinny phenol nature override bitter hop dryness, doughy souring and slim rye influence, expelling meager cinnamon-nutmeg postscript.
SOUTHAMPTON SAISON BELGIAN-STYLE FARMHOUSE ALE
Sunny glow consumes soft-bodied summery citric seduction. Dry lemony orange tang begets peppery herbal bitterness and minor ginger assurance as yeast clumps settle at glass bottom.
SOUTHAMPTON PUMPKIN ALE
Superfine copper-hazed autumnal ale furnishes spicy pumpkin pie theme with ample grain depth and perfume-hopped floral affluence. Nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice enhance busy backdrop.
SOUTHAMPTON PUBLICK HOUSE IMPERIAL PORTER
On tap, lactose-aided brown chocolate gush showers dried cherry and red grape adjuncts before burgundy and rum raisin midst receives teasing walnut remnant informing bittersweet mocha finish. Vanilla seed illusion deepens mocha resilience.
(SOUTHAMPTON) OLD HERB BARLEYWINE STYLE ALE
Bold limited edition (bottle #164) penny-hued barleywine named after respected former Bowden Square Restaurant owner, Herb Mc Carthy, brings strong burgundy-bourbon wining to medicinal cherry coughdrop thrust, stewed prune spurt, and bruised orange swagger. Heavily alcoholic sugar malts invade soured plum-raisin-fig finish and astringent oxidation adds to incredible potency as murky clumped lace coats glass.