Jack Russell Harvest Apple Ale

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

has many cider-like aspects, excpet for the obvious malt in the flavor more than the aroma. a touch of hops makes it's way through too, but really, this beer is all about the fresh apples from the local area. well done - i'd get again.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

Sampled on 4/6/2009. This fruit beer pours a slightly cloudy medium orange gold color from a 112oz bottle. Small sized white foamy head. The aroma is apple ciderish, malty and spicy. A medium to light bodied fruit beer. The malts are fruity and sweet. Mostly apple cider and spices. Hops are very mild, maybe earthy. Kind of a cross between an amber ale and apple cider. Not sure if it really works. Apple flavors are semi-sweet. Decent carbonation. Nice balance. Worth trying, but not really my cup of tea. It needs a little more tartness in the apples and some citrusy hops. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is sweet.

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

One of the odder beers I picked out for my own customized mixed 12-pack of beers from this brewery. Is it a mixed cider/malt beverage? I only ask, becuase I once homebrewed a beer that consisted of approximately 30% fresh sweet cider. It took quite a bit of work to make it semi-drinkable, and even then, the cider-ish twang was really a bit beyond the pale for most folks. That is why I went into this beer with more-than-a-little curosity....

And you know what? This hybrid beer rather well, I'd say.

Brilliant ruddy reddish body, with very little in the way of carbonation. Normally a problem for me, but in this case, I can see this being appropriate for Still Cider (or something akin, that is).

I don't want to read too much into the hybrid apple/malt aspects of this, since I'm not really much of a cider fan, and thus can't really discuss it intelligently. But, that having been said, gotta say that there's some very nice things going on with the aroma. Very "fresh" and appealing to the nose, with a moderate amount of esters.

Of course, it's the flavor profile where it's at. And this beer puts forth an interesting array of flavors to chose from. A rather rustic maltiness, that has been perhaps smoothed over and melded with the apple-ish aspects in the kettle. Very easy drinking, but with a welcoming taste to this one, that both welcomes and warrants slowing down and savoring.

Not as thin as I expected from this sort of brew, and not syrupy, either. Rather, the mouthfeel accents the flavor profile nicely making this a rather appealling quaffer, surprisngly enough.

A nicely done hybrid ale (or, rather, a very malty beer-ish cider, if you so insist)..., that impressed me far more than I expected. Recommended.

Music: Cage's "Astrology"
//TB