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View Full Version : yards tavern ale & porter


sallad
12-20-2003, 10:19 AM
yards is marketing these brews as based on homebrew recipes by - i think - george washington and thomas jefferson. (if not them, then other founding fathers..) the porter comes in at 7%ABV, the ale at 8%. found them for $14 per 6pk of 12oz bottles, which i thought was a little steep, but, hey, i gotta at least try them!

the porter.
poured dark brown with a touch of red. medium tan head w/ medium bubbles that settled to a small covering and eventually disappated except a small ring. sweet, carmelly/molassas, slightly fruity aroma with perhaps a hint of alcohol (it is brewed with molassas). moderate bitterness that is very well balanced with a very full bodied sweetness. rather low on the roasted/toasted end of things, in favor of sweeter carmel and toffee flavors. incredible body and great til the last drop. the better of the two.

the ale.
very pale/light coppery and very clear. similar head as the porter, but white rather than tan. again, a sweet fruity aroma, with more grassy/earthy notes. this was actually not very bitter, considering the super sweet, malty finish- think DFH 90min IPA with out the big bitterness. balance was definitely on the sweet side, perhaps slightly overwhelmingly so. a good beer, not sure i'd pay $14 for another 6pk though, while i might get the porter again.

both are bottle conditioned and fairly high ABV. so i drank 1 of each and the other 5 went in to the cellar. i'm betting these will keep for a while!

chazwicke
12-20-2003, 10:43 AM
Wonder what type of hops they are using. Especially if they are trying to stay true to Colonial recipes. Virginia once was a hop growing state but the hop crops suffered the same blights / diseases as the New York hop crops. (The hops in my yard grow quite well though.) Which was the Porter and which was the Ale?