Equuleus
Blue Stallion Brewing Co.

 

 

 

Specific to Lexington's Craft Beer Week, the brewers of Blue Stallion and Ethereal devise a collaborative ale that puts on a proud display of olde world character and with modern art and style.

Equuleus pours a muddled blend of striations from rust, mauve, tawny brown and ruby. Casting slight haze, the delicately frothed head expels the malty scent of steely caramel, hard candy and vinous fruit. Its taste is sweetened with biscuit, cola, caramel, and hardened confectioner's candy.

Its body is light and somewhat thin as its taste of cola and steely caramels frame the bulk of the middle palate. Juicy with prune, plum, grape, cherry, date and fig; a plethora of dehydrated, stone and weathered fruit come to mind- all wrapped in that taffey-like sweetness. Light earth notes of leather and tobacco lurk behind and struggle to make a more mature mark on flavor.

Its finish is delicately buttered with wood and tea leaf styled hops and its alcohol promotes a thinning character to the sweetness and a tangy acidity to balance. Light in carbonation, the ale doesn't quite spring to life, but doesn't carry the dryness to compete with sherry or madiera quite yet. Equuleus is a classic British taste, that's quite indicative of a very young olde ale.

Nutty malt aroma, with deeply caramelized notes, booze, and a hint of dark fruit.

Flavor reveals melanoidin complexity, with nutty, toasted malt outweigh notions of caramel due to the dry character. Muddled fruity esters add intrigue. The finish is fairly dry, for an old ale. Malt profile is great, very similar to many of their beers. Could use some depth of character.