Mr. Page's Private Reserve Number 1
City Steam Brewery Café

Im pouring a 22oz bottle at cellar temp into a chalice. The beer has been in my cellar since purchasing it at the brewpub a few years back. The beer pours a clear copper color with no haze or any streams of carbonation rising to the densely packed head of about 1 cm. the foam fades to a sturdy surface layer and just a bit of clingy tight lattice.
The aroma is some toffee and a bit of dark fruit with raisins prominent. There is a bit of pithy and rindy hops that still have a bit of citrus kick, not too much booze on the nose.
First sip reveals a silky smooth texture with gentle tingly carbonation that rolls across my palate. The flavor is just a bit of brown sugar and toffee but then rolls to some hops. There is some grapefruit rind and a good dose of astringent bitter hops that lingers on a fairly dry finish. I do get a hint of warming alcohol on the swallow but otherwise this beer is very drinkable from the glass. Quite a fine beer even though Im not sure where the style fits, double IPA, American Barleywine? who knows, but I do enjoy the bottle and am glad that Ron made this a few years ago for us to enjoy.

 

 

Reddish copper colored with a thick inch-high head of froth and foam that lingers long. Aroma of honied malt and orange peel. Rich flavor of citrusy hops, tangerine and red grapefruit, some orange rind, hints of pine. Some toffee and brown sugar notes as the malt tries to emerge from beneath the hops, but slowly gets pushed back down. Full mouthfeel, moderate carbonation. Slight warming of the cheeks, but the alcohol strength is well hidden. Really good beer.

Limited edition bottle from City Steam Brewery in Hartford, CT. This is the first beer in the brewmaster's series.

Appearance - light brown/caramel color shows that this beer has some malt backbone to it. Because of the high IBU's (100) I poured it into a Dogfish Head IPA glass. One finger of creamy/off-white head with great retention and lacing.

Smell - sweet malt and grassy hops

Taste - this brew is now 9 months bottled, and the original bitterness that I experienced has mellowed out quite a bit. It is very tasty and well balanced. This beer has a high alcohol (9.7% ABV) content, but is still very easy to drink.

Mouthfeel - leaves a nice coating on the palate that allows the flavors do their job.

Overall - one of the best beers that City Steam makes. I would like to see it more readily available. I was also surprised to see this release still available for sale at the brewery ($11 to go and $15 for table service).

 

Nice entry for city steam. Had on tap at source and bought to go and consumed over holidays. One of city steams most layered and nuanced beers. Too often big beers go out of whack. This is a balance of great aromatics and mouthfeel that benefitted from some nice aging. A big fan of this new specialty series from mr. Page. Bring on more!