In
preparation for my move to the Netherlands, I am
divesting from some of my beer stock. Last
Saturday
night,
I had a beer-soaked party with one goal: drain
my
seven taps of homebrew. I am
pleased to announce
that my intrepid friends managed to
delete four of
the seven that night. Lately, I
have also been going
through
the archives looking for beers that probably
would
not enjoy a further three years of age. Save
for
a
few (Thomas Hardy, Samichlaus, Fullers Vintage) most
beers
in my collection meet this criterion.
Last
night, I sampled two such beers: a 1997 Snow Goose
from Wild Goose Brewing Company, and a 1995-96 Geary's
Hampshire
Ale. This review concentrates on
the former.
Initial Impressions:
I've
reviewed the Snow Goose twice before. Once,
in one of
my
early reviews posted in 1994 a bottled version thoroughly underwhelmed (*1/2). In a
followup to that review, I discussed a draft sample I had at Bardo Rodeo in Arlington, Virginia,
which,
while not overwhelming, was solid (***).
As negative
reviews
tend to do, this one generated a heated response from
provincials
who were certain that their beers -- all of their beers,
were beyond reproach. I replied
by noting that while
some
great beers were brewed in that region at the time (e.g.
Baltimore
Brewing Company, Wharf Rat, et al.) Wild Goose
was
not one of them.
So
I've been holding on to this bottle of Snow Goose with
some
trepidation. While additional
samplings of the beer in Washington
D.C. in 1997 were more consistent with the *** score
than the *1/2, those were all draft consumed in the home region
of
the beer, while the poor outing came from a bottle shipped
to
Seattle. So, I inadvertantly aged this beer.
And
it aged well, as this review will show.
The
beer is amber as it pours into the glass, throwing off
a
considerable haze. I've noticed
that just about every
Wild
Goose beer I've ever had (and for the record, that list is probably less than
12) have been quite hazy. A nice
tan head forms, that exhibits excellent head retention, clinging
to the glass as I consume the beer.
Nose:
A
fruity profile dominates the nose of this aged Snow Goose, supported by some
crystal notes. As it warms, a
more pronounced malty aroma is also evident.
Notably lacking is the extreme diacetyl blast that I've occasionally
noticed in Wild Goose beers.
Flavor:
Like
most of the Ringwood beers I've had over the years, the Snow Goose opens thin.
A maltiness then slowly builds -- a basic malt, not a caramel, which
gives the beer some heft. This flows into some serious fruity notes,
with a light undertone of butter. While
the body seems to build as the flavor profile fully expresses itself (which is
technically impossible, I realize) it is never full or thick.
The beer finishes with a crystal note, and a lingering light
bitterness that dries out the palate.
Final Analysis:
The
1997 Snow Goose, tasted with three years of age, is not
as
buttery as most of the other Wild Goose beers I've sampled
in the past. This beer is generally thin in body, but with enough malty
notes, fruitiness, and that extra Ringwood zest to give it nuanced complexity
to make it interesting. The beer
needs to be on the warm side when serving.
Interestingly
enough, the beer showed no signs of aging. No sherry notes, no tinny
oxidation, nothing. It spent
its
first year or so on a shelf in a dark closet, and
the last two chilled.
Rating:
(Very Good on my 5-star scale)
