15 Year Old Beer Tasting Notes

A bar around here has a poster for Rhodenbach Alexander on the wall, on which Michael Jackson had scrawled "drink this beer!" (and signed) in magic marker...

:[

-Miles

I agree with most. You might have tried some of the Austrian dark lagers (Gosser, Stiegl festival dark).

I agree on the Belhaven S. ale. I disagree with the Mackesons. It sucks. I thought the sweetness would come come dark malt; but they obviously use some lighter stuff to boost the sweet.

German Pilsners are inferior. I like DAB's standard brau, but Pilz lovers might be better off staying in the Czech (Volkopopvicky, Golden pheasant and such are quality pilz.)

I also love it when beer publications almost never talk about the Aass brewery in Norway. They just seem to do everything right...even pilsner. Their bocks and sweeter brews are unbveatable, though. I'd love to meet their maltster.

If you desire the red ale with cheerries, probably the best made brew in the US is New Glarus Belgian Red. Out-of-line good.

Keep in mind his reviews are 15 years old. I know Mackeson was brewed in Cincinnati at some point, so you guys may be talking about somewhat different beers.

Pretty sure the "brewed under license" US version (done for Royal Imports by Boston Beer Co.) didn't come about until after then-Interbrew bought Whitbread in the UK circa 2000-1, so a 15 year old review would have probably have been of the UK exported version (which was stronger than the UK domestic version IIRC). The Lion also brewed Mackeson for a while in the mid-2000's- but I think their version was only the 22/24 oz bottles.

But, Gorio complaining that the sweetness of Mackeson's didn't come from "dark malt" but from "some lighter stuff" seems a bit off seeing as Mackeson was *the* classic example of "milk stout" and so, by definition, used lactose as sweetening ingredient.

I'm speaking of Mackeson's Triple Stout. One gets the impression of an imperial. I guess it's a matter of communication. Sorry, "sweet" does not typify the taste. It's like cardboard.

I was hoping for an "Imperial" and got "Dragon."

Mackeson Triple Stout, IIRC, was about 5% alcohol, compared to the domestic UK Mackeson Stout at around 3%. Every book I've ever seen describes it as either a "sweet stout" or "milk stout" - I can't imagine anyone ever claiming it to be anything close to it being an Imperial Stout. The "triple" in the title predates the current mania for "double" "triple" and "imperial" IPA's, stouts, etc.

Well, it seems you were expecting something that the beer wasn't.

You're the one who first mentioned sweet. "thought the sweetness would come come dark malt; but they obviously use some lighter stuff to boost the sweet."

Which version of MTS did you drink? The US "brewed under license" version ended several years ago. There's also one brewed somewhere in the Caribean IIRC.

But it was never intended to be an Imperial stout. UK beer history Martyn Cornell says when originally brewed in early 20th century, the og was 1054- given the addition of non-fermentable lactose, I'd imagine the original abv was in the same range of the last modern versions 3-5%.

I thought it may have been brewed on Isle of Man. No, I was a bit younger and probably thought that "triple" might be synonymous with sweeter malt. I did taste the lactose, though.

I jjust don't pay for beer inferior to what I can get locally. mackeson's wasn't THE worst I've ever had (too many to name). It just disappointed, IMO.

One Imperial I like is Old Swede (or, that may be the porter), Viking may be the Imperial. Made in Dallas...Dallas, WI.