Here is how Captain Lawrence describes their beer:

Fermented with our house Belgian-style Ale strain to impart the classic fruity and spicy flavors of a traditional abbey ale. Infused with imported Italian chestnut honey and jam to create rich and smoky undertones. Re-fermented in the bottle using even more Italian chestnut honey to give the beer its lively carbonation.

ABV: Unknown

Bottle: 750ml

Appearance:

The beer pours nice out of the bottle, I’m not sure why but I’m immediately thinking flanders red.  It has this appealing hazy reddish brown hue with this creamy head of foam.  When held up to the light, there is a very appealing bright red/ruby tone around the edge of the glass.

Aroma:

While it had the same Rodenbach color, it smelled nothing of the sort nor should it.  The Birra DeCicco had a very big yeasty nose, typical of a Belgian Abbey Ales.  It also had aromas of black cherries, nuts, wood/earth, pinch of smoke, and a bit of alcohol.  Pretty complex and interesting aroma.

Taste:

First off, My wife likes this beer.  That puts this beer into rare company.  We have not found many beers that she likes, Dogfish 120 was the last one she liked…

Now for my 2 cents, Great mouthfeel, lots of carbonation makes this beer zing though your mouth.  The first impressions in the mouth are of sweet nutty chestnuts and bit of a wine like quality, like a zinfandel.  All through the beer, the yeasty quality is ever present, like a wave, up and down in intensity. In the middle mouth there is a pretty significant sweet citrus flavor, but not a hop citrus, but more of a fruit citrus.  Very interesting.  As that citrus subsides, the yeast comes back and you have this yeasty tang left lingering in the aftertaste.

Glassware: Tulip or Wine Glass

Calories: Unknown, since the ABV is not known

Overall Impression:

Lee and I had samples of this beer at the brewery and a sample doesn’t do this beer justice.  You need to experience this beer as it warms, the flavors are so complex and evolving as you drink this beer.  I don’t think the chestnuts played a huge role in this beer, but did give it some nuttiness which added nicely to the complexity of the beer. I’ve noticed that a lot of Italian craft breweries are using Chestnuts in their beer, I think it is a great additional flavor that doesn’t overwhelm a beer.  As for the Jam, I dunno.  Captain Lawrence if you read this, what is the “jam” in this beer?

One final note, if you can try this beer and pair it with some food to bring out the chestnuts!  This beer is a wonderful food companion.

Captain Lawrence Birra DeCicco is a post from: Simply Beer

Here is how South Hampton describes this beer:

A strong, dark ale with notes of raisins, figs, and caramel, and a pronounced “dark rum” character. Deceptively smooth at 10.5% alcohol, this strong ale is ideal as an after-dinner sipping brew.

ABV: 9.9%

Appearance:

Pours a deep mahogany color with ruby highlights and a brilliant white head.   A nice bit of lacing accompanies this head.  A good torrent of super tiny bubbles comes straight off the bottom.

Aroma:

This beer has a big aroma, tons of fig and alcohol on the nose.  Aside from the fig and alcohol, there were notes of malted toffee, sherry, and raisin that really warms the nose.

Taste:

Quite a tasty beer, moderate mouth feel, very even through .  A very fruity figgy beer, big alcohol presence that is almost hidden by a malt sweetness.  One of the things I like about this beer is how closely its flavor resembles the aroma.  The figs and malt sweetness dominate with the alcohol, but there are also undertones of sherry, raisins, and good yeasty esters.

Calories: a sweet 9.9% abv beer would have a fair amount of residual sugar, leaving this beer on the high side of the calorie chart. 300-325 calories per 12/0z

Glassware: Goblet or Oversize wine glass

Overall Impression:

This is an excellent sipping beer; great after dinner drink to share with friends.    It’s a high abv beer and the booziness makes this a great beer to go along with desert or cigar.

South Hampton Abbot 12 Abbey Dark Ale is a post from: Simply Beer

New Glarus describes this beer as:

a sophisticated Abbey style ale. Both elegant and drinkable this ale is cleanly aromatic with spicy notes of clove and ginger. Crisp and fragrant up front while gracefully sliding into warm malt notes at the finish.
Fermented naturally in this bottle, the beer in your hand is a living testament to the value of many working together to create something bigger than the individual parts. Moving a mountain begins with a single stone.

New Glarus Stone Soup

Appearance:

Very hazy blond beer.  Looks fairly carbonated with lots of bubbles coming up, but very little head or head retention.  Only a slight collar of white foam with this one.

Aroma:

A bold aroma with a lot going on! A very yeasty bready beer that has a slight orange citrus aroma dominates your nose at first.  Then there is also some underlying spice and apricot fruit notes as well that builds the complexity.

Taste:

A dry beer, has a fruity flavor, big carbonation.  A decent amount of bittering hops with a tongue tingling peppery finish.  With the strong yeasty esters and big effervescent carbonation it reminds me of a Belgian Pale ale feel.   The more I drink, the more flavors are coming out. As the beer warms, the generic “fruity” flavor is more apricot and banana with a bit of spice.  The label says Ginger and Cloves, but for me the two are combining together into a more generic spice then one dominating over the other.

Glassware: Snifter / Goblet

Calories: At 5.3% this beer would have about 165 -  180 calories per 12oz (Calorie Chart)

Overall Impression:

Good flavor, but really lacked on the head from this bottle.  Maybe it is better on draft or another bottle? My glass was clean, so may I just need to have another!

New Glarus Stone Soup is a post from: Simply Beer