Reunion - A Beer for Hope 2008

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

I’m not quite sure why this bottle was put back up for sale at local stores recently. It’s still quite drinkable, though. The beer is a shade between burgundy and garnet with a small white cap that fades quickly, at this point anyway. There’s a healthy dose of rye in the aroma. It’s spicy and sweet, like a light rye bread. There are also some interesting raisin-brandy notes floating around in there, possibly from the age of the bottle. The flavor is still quite clean, though the hops seem washed out. It’s like a light specialty malt barleywine. There are brown sugar, brandy and caraway seed mixing together. It’s a tad thin and this feel shows off the age a bit, but the beer has aged quite well given that it’s not really a prime candidate for such. At any rate, it’s better than expected and rather nice for an evening nightcap.

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

My brother brought this over to share. Solid red color with no head. I like the way the rye adds a real sting to the flavor. It is so unique and easily identifiable. Thich, syrupy mouthfeel. Sweet malty front, which turns into a rye crispness. Finishes hoppy and bitter.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

This was my first return ‘beer run’ to Case and Keg in Boca Raton. A small store with a moderately impressive selection of specialty/craft brews. This bottle from Bison brewery caight my attention. And so when I got home I decided to pair it with my cheddar/beer soup. This ale pours with an impressive mahogany red color. The off white head is robust and frothy. But settles soon into a nice lacing. In aroma and taste it is a complex brew, with a balance of sweetness from the caramel/malt, spiciness from the caraway and rye. The hops lend beautifully to this with citrusy biting/bittering flavor. There’s smoothness and body to this ale as it touches the palate. All in all an impressive ale.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Aroma is sweet as well as bready with chocolate malt coming through as well as some caramel and offers strong nuiances of rye. Appearance is a cloudy, reddish-burgundy when held to the light with a small head on top that is off-white and stringy and leaves decent lacing on the glass as it diminishes. Mouthfeel is rather light to medium in body with some adequate complexity as well as balance with a palate that is clean and wet-like and not all that bad for the style. Flavor is of sweet malt but not too cloying with some rye bread overtones as well as caramel malt and sweetness with some earthy and figgy nuiance with an aftertaste that is very bock-like and a finish that is crisp and clean, as well as smooth. Overall, this brew is not bad and may be a bit too cloyingly sweet and reminds me of German-bock bier with an edge and in the end...this beer is tasty but could use a few hop varieties thrown in to make this beer more balanced; recommended to some extent...

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

Aroma is pleasantly malty and yeasty, with just a hint of spice and a touch of apple. Color is a clear medium reddish-brown or reddish-golden; head is thick, fluffy, and pale tan. Flavor is somewhat malty and somewhat hoppy, strongly but not unpleasantly bitter, very smooth with a whisper of fruit and spice.

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

This rye beer pours a deep reddish color from a 22oz bottle. Small sized white foamy head. The aroma is rye, malts, some caramel and some chocolate. A medium bodied rye/red ale. The malts are caramel, chocolate and sweet. The hops are grapefruity and earthy. Interesting beer it has some of the caramel aspects of an amber, and the hops and flavor of a pale ale or IPA. It has that rye spiciness as well. The caraway adds and complements the rye. Interesting beer. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.