Islay Nerabus Ale
Islay Ale Co. Ltd.

 

 

Smells beery, more red than dark, but pours very dark brown/black. Hints of currants or dried fruit on nose.

Very dry in the mouth. Full mouthfeel. Currants again or dried fruit on the palate. Maybe a hint of bitterness on the finish - coffee or smoke, but very faint. Surprising and subtle. Not my favorite style but very well made.

Deep oaky brown with a retaining magnolia head throughout. Gives an air of fruit (apple) with a likewise prickly fruity palate leading to some dark chocolate earthiness at the end. Vinous. Cleans the palate well and displays qualities between a lively yeasty cask ale and a lambic.
Lots of potential here. A quality beer. Wish I had more.

Purchased at a package store about 1/2 km east of the Taipei 101 tower.

A cross-bred beast of Scotch, porter, weizen, and left coast ales. Kind of like a Rubik's cube of flavors, all quite different, neatly put together into one compelling puzzle. Rare to find a brew with such a degree of complexity at only 4.8% ABV.

Pours a clear brown about the shade of milk chocolate with an thin beige head that quickly fades to a ring that attempts to leave a bit of lacing, but mostly fails in the effort.

The aroma is layered in dark fruity yeast, caramel, chocolate and roasted and citric hop notes. This is a beer that amply rewards your olfactory contemplation before the first sip.

Flavor takes the aromas and marries them to a slightly sweet malt base, some wheat spiciness, and just enough earthy hop bite to clear the palate. A citrusy aspect dominates the hop profile in the aroma, but more of a brit-style is present in the flavor. After a while, there's a slight oakiness, too.

For all that activity, this is really not a heavy beer. The acidity of the dark malt and bitterness of the hops keep it from wearing out its welcome.

How to define a session beer... Is it simply the restrained ABV and pleasant flavor, or does it also have to be a more quiet sort of chap in the pub, not one that wants to jump in and dominate the scene every time you look in his direction? This beer certainly makes the grade for combining great flavors without approaching flammability. But then every sip takes your mind off of whatever you might have been thinking and says "pay attention to me! I'm more interesting than anything you could be doing without spilling me in the process!" Go ahead and session this beer, but be prepared to be a rather poor conversational partner until it's gone. A real work of brewer's art here. Proof a beer can be complex and challenging without an enormous ABV.

Purchased at the Archer Road Beer Stop, Sheffield. Bottle-conditioned in a 500ml brown bottle, BB May 2008, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass.

A: russet brown colour, clear, with a thin layer of dark beige head settling to a thin blanket.
S: a very different aroma mixed of winey & peachy fruits, musty hints, crystal and chocolate malts, a roasty and mineral twist, and a mildly smokey-herbal tinge of smoked prunes and Chinese herbal-medicine soup... It's very different, showing some elements of a complex Porter as well as a Scottish Ale, and treading so very lightly...
T: the taste is phenolic & peat-smokey straight from the start, yet so very light in intensity and pleasant... gradually a faintly tart tinge of dark fruits (like longan-fruits and plums) develops, along with a chewy bitterness from dried-leafy hops and black malts (as in a Dark Mild); finished quite clean and dry, while the charcoal-like aroma lurks pleasantly at the rear of the palate.
M&D: light in body, refreshing in texture, overall a very well bottle-coniditioned sample for a British brewery. This is a quaffable and quality ale at the cross of Dark Mild, Porter, and (of course) Scottish Ale. Impressive and interesting enough for one to ask for more!

Beer bottle (50cl.), tasted in 2006.

Appearance : winter beer presents a beautiful ruby color from pale malts, caramel, dark crystal, chocolate and wheat.
Smell : spicy flavors
Taste and mouthfeel : hoped, with some roasted notes
Drinkability: a very good beer style scottish ale (not high in alcohol)

Review translated from french 5-26-2008.