Tuesday, June 19, 2007

North Coast Old Stock 2007

I am a big fan of North Coast Brewing from California. From their Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, to Brother Thelonious, that Belgian style beer that also supports great music. When I went to my local Central Market last week and saw their new Old Stock ale, I decided to pick it up. This is an Old ale that they brew every year, and its meant to be laid down and aged. I decided to go ahead and try one before laying any down to get a baseline for later comparison.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at 11.7 and pours a cloudy reddish brown with a thin taupe colored head. The head quickly dissipates into a thin tight line that sticks around throughout. The nose is of sweet malt syrup, raisins, figs, espresso and chocolate. The mouth has notes of caramel, chocolate, espresso and raisins. A bit too much alcohol on the back end kind of kills the over all taste of the beer, and not surprisingly this beer needs some more time to mellow the alcohol flavors and let other's start to meld and shine through. Right now I'd have to give it a B-. We'll have to wait and see how it develops.

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