Old Man Ale
Hudson Valley Brewing Company

Pours a deep earthy brown, with a thin almond head. Looks good so far. A bit of lacing, mostly little flecks sticking to the glass.
Aroma is malty, with a bit of caramel malt and estery pale malt sweetness. A nice mix of both. I really can't detect much in the way of hops.
Flavor is surprisingly mild, sweet and a little bready. A touch of roasty bittersweetness, with mild estery fruitiness. It comes through in the aroma, but not much in the flavor, which is a shame. It tastes sort of like an old ale, but I can never really decide. Moderate carbonation, could use a little more fruitiness. Overall pretty decent, but I doubt I'll get this again.

This beer is a turbid looking garnet. A slight creamy light beige head sits on top. Retention is better than average. Huge sweet malty presence on the nose. Very Barleywine-like. Unfortunately, the taste is not barleywine like. Something seems to be lacking in a Big Beer like this. And depth it is. For an old ale, this is really pretty weak. There's some smooth, "bock-like" malt. Very little character coming from the hops. Balance I suppose. Some caramel and toffee like accents are perceptible. Body is medium. Not full enough in my opinion. This is a below average beer for it's style.

Nonetheless, thanks to Davo for providing the sample.

A dark, rusty red color, not clear, but hazy/foggy, topped with a light tan head that quickly disappears, with just a wee bit of laciness on the glass. The taste is mostly a burnt charcoal note throughout, with some hints of a mouth-puckering expresso as it warmed up. Thin, watery feel. The only reason I gave it a 2.5 for drinkability is that at the local Applebee's (also in Mohegan Lake, NY, home of Hudson Valley Brewing) is that aside from Sam Adams, everything else on tap is a macroswill. If it wasn't the best beer there, I wouldn't go out of my way to seek it out.

Rust brown ale rising to a dense head. This is a sharp tasting beer (from the water) with distinct estery characteristics, underscored by malty sweetness with very little in the way of hop bite. It adequately fulfills the parameters of the old ale style. While it might not stand out in a line-up, it's solid and enjoyable in its own right, if a little raw. Bottle indicates Rip Van Winkle (from Washington Irving's tale set in the Hudson Valley). Interestingly, after I sampled the brew, I noticed the six pack says that the brewery's beer is "calorie conscious." I did not taste anything unusual before I read this, but afterwards I thought I perceived a slightly watered-down quality in subsequent tastes. This could just be my imagination. The beer was actually brewed in Lambertville, NJ.