Great Lakes Nosferatu
Thanks to mcallister for this one. Silly me, forgot all about this beer, says to enjoy by about a year ago. Nice, sticky, fine and intricate lacings. Looks good, a slightly bloodied amber colour. Decent slightly ruddy pale tan head. Big toffee and toast nose, with some cherry. Mild hop aromas with some woodiness, and a touch of citrus and grass. Toast and rich toffee. Probably should have enjoyed this earlier, has a mildly annoying cherry, vinous quality that i suspect has to do with oxidizing malts. The hop bitterness is surprisingly pronounced considering how the malts dominated the nose. A clean, slightly woody hop bitterness gives way to more flavourful accents of citrus and pine. Medium bodied, mildly carbonated and nicely balanced. A touch of astringency that plays nicely with residual malt sweetness and slight yeasty mustiness. Ill have to enjoy this fresh some day. Pretty drinkable for an ale with 8% abv. Hints of alcohol warmth. The only thing limiting the drinkability is the fact that i probably should have enjoyed this brew a year ago. An interesting strong ale, one that i will have to revisit. This was tough to rate. Didnt look at other reviews to see if what i feel are off flavours are present in fresher tasting or not. I went nice on this brew as i suspect the off flavours present were my fault for sitting on this too long.