“Third Coast Old Ale starts with a rich, caramel base, and finishes with a heavy hop bitterness. Sharply intense at first, it will age gracefully, adding complexity and subtlety in your cellar. Go ahead, test your patience.”
Served in a snifter. It pours a murky chestnut hue that’s capped off with a short tan head. It collapsed to a halo which posts inconsistent rings down the walls of the glass.
Monstrous aroma! Like a glass full of syrup and fortified wine. This is the 2015 release so the hops have all but dropped out, although there still is a delicate hint of pine and grass hanging around. Loads of sweet dark fruits like prune, raisin, plum and figs. Relentless wafts of toffee, caramel, butterscotch and treacle with earthy and somewhat cocoa powdery undertones. So many dimensions.
The flavour backs up perfectly with super sweet (but far from cloying) notes of port, dark fruits, spice, alcohol and hints of earthy tobacco. Feeling a bit of heat with an assertive bitterness through the mid as it rolls in to quite a well balanced finish that boasts a gentle dryness with lingering malt sweetness on the back end.
The texture is dense and chewy with low co2. 10.2% ABV presenting firmly. Slightly drying on the rear.
The brilliant flavour and aroma certainly makes up for the drab and boring old strip. We would love to see how this would go fresh because it is drinking pretty damn fine right now (even without the hops). So obviously it’s a beer that would age well, good thing we have a few left in storage!