Manhattan Reserve
Town Hall Brewery

750ml growler. Fill date of 2.22.18.
Clear ruby amber colored body. Very brief off white fizzy head. No lacing.
Aroma is strong with alcohol, also with oak and cherry.
Taste is led by the semi sweet cherry, but this is full of alcohol, with a little bourbon oak barrel. Add ins are dark fruit, burnt sugar, and vanilla.
Medium mouth feel, with some stickiness. Okay carbonation.
Tastes like heavy duty cough syrup. Strong, and having a cherry fruit lead in, and lead out.

Had on tap. Clear ruby read with a ring of white bubbles. Smell is sweet and sour cherry with big whiskey booze, brown sugar, and robust nutty malt. Taste was very boozy, almost too boozy, with the cherry skins being the big compliment, with some wood, malt, and bitters too. Isn't the most balanced, but powerful, has some burn to it too

 

Tap at Town Hall Lanes. Poured a clear, ruby color with a small, tan head of foam. It smelled of yeastiness, spices and cherries. Nice tart and sweet bite from the cherries with toasty malt and toffee.

 

 

 

 

So, here we have Manhattan Reserve from Town Hall, at last in my possession in a growler, which I am at last going to drink. It's the Belgian-style Grand Cru, aged in whiskey barrels, with tart cherries added, giving the overall impression of a Manhattan cocktail.

Clear, bright crimson coloring, no head at all. (I tried again to pour, and a small head appears briefly, but to quick to get it in the photo I took.)

Bourbon screams out of the nose. Vanilla, cherry, oak. It's brilliant, they did it, they made a beer that smells like a manhattan cocktail. Does it taste like one? That's next...

Large sweetness blasts the tongue at first, getting cooler and calmer soon thereafter. Hugely rich and lush. More cherry, more whiskey, more vanilla and oak. Sweet and malty and over-powering with the cherry and the booze and the richness and deliciousness. Oh, my. Sweetness turns dry and rolls all over the palate. Yum, yum, yum.

 

 

On tap at the brewpub. 5 oz. serving as part of a flight.

Appearance: Color is a deep ruby red. Not much of a head. Moderate bubbles.

Smell: A nicely sweet and boozy Belgian style aroma with a scent of bourbon, cherries, and dark fruit. Big upfront barrel presence with a scent of bourbon whiskey, vanilla, oak, and wood. Sweet hints of cherries. Belgian yeast with some clove and pepper spice. Toasted malt with hints of caramel, toffee, biscuit, chocolate, and grains. Dark fruit hints of raisin, fig, plum, and dates. Also some hints of candied sugar and leather. A really good complex aroma.

Taste: Like it smells, a sweet and boozy Belgian Cru style taste with notes of bourbon, cherries, and dark fruit. Big barrel flavor with upfront notes of bourbon whiskey, vanilla, oak, and wood. Belgian yeast with notes of clove and pepper. Sweet and tart notes of cherries. Toasted malt with notes of biscuit, grains, caramel, toffee, and chocolate. Dried dark fruit notes of fig, raisin, dates, and plum. Some candied sugar sweetness as well. A very good taste.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied with a moderate amount of carbonation. Chewy and fairly slick. Somewhat hot but not overwhelming or cloying.

Overall: A really good barrel aged Grand Cru. Big bourbon and dark fruit flavor with a nice touch of cherry.

 

32 oz. growler. Deep reddish amber. Strong bourbon aroma. Lots of sugars, too. Cherry. Belgian yeast. And some booze. Tastes much more of cherry than it smells. Nutty maltiness. Oak. Bourbon. Interesting, but the cherry is a little cloying. Boozy and kinda heavy. Not something I'd drink a lot of.

Light tan head. Caramel ruby color.

Cherry tartness. Warming bourbon. Oaky. Some chocolate or cocoa. Very malty. Some dark dried fruits. Plums and dates.

Medium bodied. Very clean.

A unique beer that tastes awesome. Well done.

This beer arrives brown color with a solid off white head that sticks around longer than most barrel aged beer heads I'vre seen. The aroma is of rye, spice oak, dates, plums, rock candy, and Belgian malt. Very nice. The taste is similar,b ut more intense with he barrel shkwing through a bit more. The mothfeel is full bodied without being stick. The texture is velvety. Overall, this is one of the best barrel aged beers I've ever tasted. Well done Town Hall.