Aroma: Rich and effervescent! Caramel bread and fruity esters. Some leathery aspect to the beer. There's peaches, pears and even aromatic notes of plums and figs. Alcohol prominent, but not solventy.
Taste: The front is largely carameled and sweet, to follow, undertones of brown sugar...nearly reminiscent of syrup. Plums and raisins present and even a dash of soapiness. The second half is a complete opposite, Hops all the way. Drying, floral and grassy, while still maintaining a palatable element. The toasted malt runs on out through the finish. Touch of spice...
Mouthfeel: Body is medium, but the mouthfeel is a lot lighter due to the carbonation. However the texture is slick and some stickiness resides on the lips. Drying finish - resined.
Overall Impression: There is an awesome division between the start and finish. In Sync, they clash and produce two big, totally different flavors. I'm more for a balance. The alcohol was at large while all other components matched, but stood out separately.
83/100
This caught my attention because it has an obvious relationship to Old Thumper Ale, though this has a sit down first alcohol percentage of double that (thus it's name).
ReplyDeleteI see the shipyard brewery also make Old Thumper (since 1994) in a near identical bottle (nothing underhand - they admit the connection) to Ringwood's Old Thumper(since 1979). For interest sake, the links
http://www.shipyard.com/images/thumperlyte.jpg
http://www.ringwoodbrewery.co.uk/beers/beer.aspx?bid=3
A bottle appears in my last blog.
I'm not sure how easy it is to get beer to America - Contact me at miceforlent@hotmail.com and I'll try when I get back home (that'll be next year now)