Wild Oats Series No. 4 - Festivale Plus Sticke Alt
Beau's All Natural Brewing Company

 

600ml brown bottle with a batch number and year.

Mild chill haze, deep amber hue with a lovely looking lace. Malty nose, brown bread, faint hop spice, raisins, and toasted grain. Big smoothness, creamy full-ish body, sweet, toasted bread, ample hop bitterness, hint of caramel, vagueness of golden raisins, spice, faint woody herbal hop, slightly warming, semi-sweet finish

A big malt bomb with balance, a whole lot of fun to drink.

 

Generously received from mtomlins and a very pleasant surprise: quite a respectable alt bier. A style I loved in Germany (many moons ago) but don't often find without massive caramelized sweetness in North America...

Bottle pours a clear and beautiful amber colour with a limited off-white head that has respectable retention. Malt forward aroma has enough tannins to off-set the caramel. The flavour transitions across a reasonable malt sweetness to a genuinely enjoyable bitterness (that I don't remember from Duesseldorf). Has a nicely lingering finish...

Bottle: Poured a clear deep amber color alt with a medium size foamy head with OK retention. Aroma of caramelized sugar and oak is stronger than I was expecting. Taste is also a mix of caramelized sugar with some oak notes which brings out a dry edge to this beer. Body is about average for style with good carbonation. I am not sure the dry caramel malt notes, cereal notes and the oak notes were very well balanced together.

Getting pumped for Beau's Oktoberfest tomorrow!

Appearance: It has a nice orangy/brown/amber color to it. It has a nice thick beige head that dies down moderately and leaves some nice lacing.

Smell: The aromas definitely give out hints of caramelly malts, some dark fruit, earthy hops, bready malts and faint oak.

Taste: Like the aromas, it has a some sweet caramel upfront, a nice earthy bitterness, some breadiness, faint fruit and some oak.

Mouthfeel: It has a medium carbonation with a nice overall balance and feel.

Drinkability: It's a very smooth drinkable beer accompanied with good flavors and aromas.

 

600 mL bottle from the LCBO; packaged June 17 2013. I've only tried one altbier previously... and also only one beer from Beau's, for that matter (a Lug Tread out of a random OCB sampler pack). Neither altbiers nor Beau beers seem to make their way to this area very often, so I was strongly tempted by this one when I spotted it while stopping in London. Served slightly chilled.

Pours a gorgeous, deep ruby-amber colour, topped with slightly more than one finger's worth of frothy, foamy, light beige-coloured head. It weakens over the next few minutes, leaving behind a thin cap and collar; minimal lacing. Pleasant, very malt-forward aroma, with big notes of toffee and vanilla, accompanied by some prunes and raisins. Oak is also detectable, with the overall bouquet giving off a sort of cream soda vibe that I really like.

Very tasty stuff; the malts are dominant but satisfyingly balanced with a solid dose of hop dryness. Caramel and butterscotch sweetness start off the initial malt assault, alongside a strong vanilla presence. Raisins and dark cherries also come through mid-sip, with the oak contributing a woody character toward the finish. Leafy, earthy hops finish it off, and then linger gently into the aftertaste. Medium-bodied, with carbonation that provides a solid bite - a bit too much in my opinion, but this is a very minor objection. Otherwise, the mouthfeel is rather creamy and quite smooth, with the 7% alcohol nowhere to be found. Extremely quaffable for something of its abv, but tasty enough to warrant savouring.

Final Grade: 4.24, a solid A-. I don't know much about altbiers, but I knows what I likes, and Beau's Festivale Plus Sticke Alt is a brew that I likes a lot. I have no clue if barrel-aging is something traditionally done when brewing sticke alts, but it works out very nicely here - the oak and vanilla generating another level of complexity beneath the sturdy malt backbone and the drying effects of the hops. A superb ale that I would certainly purchase again; its relatively light, balanced, drinkable nature makes it a great summer sipper for any fan of oaked beers or malt-focused ales in general.

 

 

 

 

 

Clear coppery red under a good-sized head. that settles to a film, spotty lace throughout.

Vanilla, cherry and wood to the nose. Very malty up front, sweet down the middle, and finally drying oak to finish. Noticeably woody in a good way. Interesting brew across the board. Lingering dryness and gentle bitterness from hops. Very long on the bitter side, stays with you for some time. Mouthfeel offers some bite from carbonation.

Overall worth a try. Lots of stuff happening here.

 

Serving Type - 600ml bottle poured into a pint glass.

Appearance - Pours a hazy amber colour. Somewhere between a copper and a blood red - quite striking. On top sits 2 fingers of decidedly thick, bright white head which dissipates at a snails pace, leaving behing some incredibly dense lacing.

Smell - A predominant oak smell from the barrel aging dominates the nose, along with some faint some toffee and caramel malt. There are also some light spiced.

Taste - Holy malts. The first sip was like being punched in the face with malty goodness, but it mellows to a point where it becomes almost perfectly balanced with the oak flavours. Towards the finish there is a strong hop bitterness that lingers for a good time afterwards, bringing with it some light fruity flavours.

Mouthfeel - Medium body that feels almost creamy. Low carbonation with a very dry finish.

Overall - 4.25/5 By far and away my favorite Beau's offering to date... definitely looking to try out some more from the Wild Oats line up.

600ml bottle poured into a mug. ABV 7%.

A - Poured a clear deep brick red with a thick foamy off white 2cm head. Foam reduced to an everlasting cap. Some lacing.

S - During the pour I immediately got a whiff of vanilla. Aroma is of caramel, vanilla, cream soda, oak, earthy. As it warms the cream soda notes leave and the oak becomes more prominent.

T - Roasted malts, some caramel, vanilla, cherries, wood, hint of smoke, herbal bitterness in the finish has a bit of a kick to it. Overall the flavours are well blended and balanced.

M - Medium carbonation, medium-heavy body, creamy, sticky, dry finish.

O - Oh this is good. The 7% ABV is undetectable. (Until it hits you!)

 

 

Bottle from the Ottawa LCBO for $8

Appearance - Clear copper colour with an average size fizzy/frothy beige coloured head. There is an average amount of carbonation showing and there is some great lacing. The head lasted for around 5 minutes.

Smell - Caramel, hops, malts, dark fruits

Taste & Mouth - There is an average amount of carbonation and I can taste malts, dark fruits, and dry hops. There is also some caramel and vanilla and a light woodiness. It ends with a malty yet dry hop aftertaste.

Overall – I wasn't all that impressed with my first sip, but the beer grew on me as I progressed through the bottle. Maybe it's better at warmer temperatures. I didn't get a whole lot of the wood aging flavorful, but there was a fair amount of hop bitterness. Not something I'd buy again, but one of the better beers I've had from these guys.