Fish Tale Old Woody Strong Old Ale

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Pours hazy, barely translucent copper with a thin buff head. Aroma features bourbon, woody, toasted malt, and subtle caramel notes. Flavor offers malty, pomme fruit, bourbon and woody tones. Mouthfeel delivers firm body and good fizz. No fish tale this!

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

March Madness tasting ’08 bottle-

Aroma: Sherry/vinous, dark fruits, a bit of oxidation, molasses, fresh caramel, pipe tobacco, and some rich earthyness/light peat.

Appearance: dark amber body/rusted color, cloudy body with a small, tight 1/2 white head with average staying power.

Taste: A sophisticated, decadent malt core surrounded by dark fruits, toffee, candied walnuts, a touch vinous, tobacco...and more malts.

Overall: Incredible beer. Alcohol seemed very well disguised. A no-brainer if there ever is one.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

has a wonderful refined and fresh smell .. pours a dark slightly murky brown .. . nice malty covering, is surprisingly mellow .. light yak (cognac) and caramel .. . mellow! .. could use a year but very drinkable fresh, a nice brew on a cold night!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottle courtesy of CBA: Poured a cloudy dark brown color ale with a big thick foamy head with some good retention. Aroma of toffee and dry fruits as well as some NW hops. Taste of toffee malt and subtle dry fruits is well balance by some medium NW hops with s a subtle piney finish. Full body with some adequate carbonation and no alcohol was noticeable. Not totally true to the style because of a higher level of hops then expected but that doesn’t really matters since this is a great beer.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Body looked opaque milk chocolaty brown , large white floaties where suspended everywhere in it, a small white cap was produced during the pour only a small skiff remains after a short while. Aroma is awesome noticeable alcohol, sweet chocolate, and I swear on deep inhales I smell raspberry this stuff smells awesome very complex and warm making my mouth drool. Strong smooth alcohol presence in the taste but it really works for this brew, very malty and the entire flavor has a mild bitterness that is off set from the sweetness of the alcohol. The mouth feel is warm and full, this stuff really warms the throat and stomach, aftertaste is slightly bitter but clean and didn’t last too long. Very tasty beer very complex and very drinkable me likes a lot.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

12 oz / 355 ml bottle, same label as the one pictured above. Spawned on date of April, 9.5% abv. Pours a rich and slightly hazy brown color, small amount of foam that quickly faded to a thin floating cap, then just a thin ring around the edge of the glass. Thick layer of sediment left at thte bottom of my glass. Complex smells with lots of thick malt, and a nice warming alcohol aroma. Sweet malt, dark fruits, and more warming (but not really burning) alcohol. Thick and clinging mouthfeel, creamy and smooth. Very well made old style ale, high alcohol content is well balanced and hidden. Good to savor on a cold day. Assume it would cellar well, and round out nicely.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

9.5%. Purchaced in Dec '06. Beer has sat and warmed and then sat after pouring for quite a long time. Colour is a caramel brown muck. I swirled all the junk on the bottom of my bottle and dumped it in. I got a huge pile of fine light brown sediment settling. Very little head but ended up with a good showing with lots of spotty tan lacing early on. Very good aroma consisting of some roasted malts (not strong), vanilla, possibly a touch of chocolate, plums and maybe a slight citrus (?), caramel and some notable remnants of the oak kegs. Taste is excellent and at the temperature that I'm drinking it, the alcohol is very well hidden but is noticed in the aftertaste. This is sooooo good. Sweet with rich caramel malts, plums, stiff spices and enough wood to notice. Mouthfeel is quite smooth with some carbonation. Feels quite thick. Has a firey spice and good bitterness - one that is not over the top, just pleasant - for aftertaste. Breathing in after a sip almost burns the throat - this seems to intensify the bitter spice burn. Long seemingly endless aftertaste. The bottom of my glass is loaded with sediment and now the spice burn is pretty heavy duty! Down the hatch with the sediment! Damn. That is one fine brew. I did not expect this from Fish Tales. I am having strong memories of stiff Belguim stuff. I've noted the lack of over the top bitter hops. For me, this is probally the finest American brew available in my area at this time. Will buy more for cellaring and casual consumption. Too bad it's after midnight and I polished this in no time flat. Highly drinkable - totally enjoyable.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

im not quite sure what color this is... maybe a hazy/cloudy/sediment filled grapefruit color! yeah... i never had anything that was this color... weird, poured with a white head that vanished in no time, had minimal lacing. tons and TONS of sediment floating around in it and on the bottom of the glass... looks like there's god d@mn sea lice in my beer! not that attractive, but the color is amazing! aroma consist of grapefruity hops, wood (not sure what kind, just smells like wood!) and malty, like aracuna said, it reminds me of whisky, except with grapefruit hops. that aint a bad thing :) everyone loves whisky! :) the taste is caramel, malts, slighty hoppy, and a taste that is similar to a flemish sour. dont know where the hell that came from, but when i dirnk it i can taste flemish sour... the mouthfeel is creamy and full bodied. coats the mouth quite well, with a slight spicy/hoppy finish to the brew. this brew turned out to be quite complex in aroma and taste, didnt expect this much. great brew, a must try if u can get it!

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Poured a nice amber color with small head and thin lacing. Aroma was of alcohol dark fruits caramel. Flavor was the same but with some chocolate and woodyness to it. Not a bad beer at all.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Poured an amber brown color with a thin head and very light lacing. Aroma was dark fruits, brown sugar, caramel, and peat. The flavor followed suit with some coffee and chocolate mixed in and oak and hot alcohol in the finish. Mouthfeel was plentiful for the style, decent showing of carbonation.