Vintage 50, 6/14/08

Vintage 50
Leesburg, VA
Saturday, 6/14/08, 12:30pm
[open]

House Brews:
Catoctin Kolsch
Hefe Weizen
Saison V-50 (B)
ESB
Biere de Garde (B)
Point of Rocks Pale Ale (J)
Porter
Casked Red Ale

Saison V-50: Straw gold colored with lasting head and substantial effervescence. Aroma is tangy and yeasty. The bubbles last into the mouth, feeling like a sparkling wine. Body is very slightly thin - probaly a good thing. With this amount of carbonation it could be hard to swallow if it were too chewy. The flavors are classic Belgian - tangy, yeasty, sweet, fruity, spicy - quite good. There's a touch more hops but the brewer's done an excellent job of making them fit right in. The hops do assert themselves more as the beer warms. It doesn't hurt the beer's character. 8.4

Point of Rocks Pale Ale: No head to speak of. Fairly light color - unfiltered. The malts show up in the initial taste. In the swallow, the hops make their appearance with a bang. A little more balance would be appreciated. Body is a tad thin. The beer has a lot of taste, and it is interesting, but it's a little out of kilter. 8.2

Biere de Garde: Middling gold color. Faint head. Muted aroma. Body too think, although I confess to being unfamiliar with the style. Flavor is sweet and rustic - it's very rough around the edges. A strong caramel-y presence in the taste. I'm not sure what this beer is trying to do, but I'm not convinced the beer knows either. 7.8