Old Court Ale By 16 Mile Brewery
Beer review by BBA
AgileHProductions | June 17, 2010
The Better Beer Authority heads to Georgetown, Delaware (figuratively speaking) and tastes Old Court Ale from the 16 Mile Brewery. They have only been in business since July of 2009 so this is still a hard beer to come by outside of the state of Delaware and Coastal Maryland. Find out if it's good enough to trade for on beeradvocate.com.
Rough Transcript:
James: On tap -- Old Court Ale.
Hi. My name is James Knott and this is your Better Beer Authority. Today we are talking about Old Court Ale from the 16 Mile Brewing Company in Georgetown, Delaware. This new brewery was started in July of 2009 and currently brews three different ales. You can find their beers in Delaware and parts of Maryland, so pick up a few on your way to Dewey Beach or Ocean City.
The brewery describes Old Court as an American-style ale that reserves the right to be different. They focus on the beer's lighter body, citrusy hop aroma and caramel finish.
It is 6% ABV and scores 28 IBUs.
Where does the name 16 Mile Brewery come from? It's because Georgetown, Delaware is 16 miles from anywhere -- in Sussex County that is.
Scott, give us the big picture on this beer. Give the people at home a little description of it.
Scott Blickhan: It's a carmelly flavor and a nutty smell. When you drink it it's interesting. It actually leaves your mouth a little drier then when you had the first taste and kind of leaves you wanting for a little bit more.
James: Mark, do you agree with his assessment of the flavor?
Mark Smith: Altogether I think he made a pretty accurate assessment of the beer. I completely agree with him about leaving your mouth a little dry, always wanting to go back for more. To me it leaves a pretty good drinkability factor. I mean I wouldn't put it up there with Bud Light drinkability so to speak, but for me, I would definitely go back and have another.
James: You see this as a session beer?
Mark: Definitely a session beer. It's not very filling. The carbonation doesn't leave you with that really full feeling in your belly. Definitely something where you could sit and have 4 or 5 and not feel too bad about it.
James: Chef. What's sticking out to you here in this beer?
Adam Harms: I think as I drink it a little bit more it's that fruitiness. You can smell the fruit aspect to it and then you get that citrus toward the back of your throat I get that citrus to it along with the carmel and the hoppiness. I think this is again a really drinkable beer. I think you could sit around. You would probably get wasted because of the 6 percent ABV.
James: It kind of sneaks up on you a little bit.
Adam: Yeah, you could sit around and drink quite a few of these. It does leave a flavor in your mouth that you want to drink some more.
James: Scott, what would you drink this beer with? What kind of food do you see this with?
Scott: I mentioned earlier maybe steak. Maybe pasta. Something that has some more moisture to it because this kind of takes away a little bit. You could probably have it with anything. I really like it. It's a good beer and I would probably drink it any day of the week if it was available. I think it's got a high drinkability. I'd give it a 7.
James: And Mark, what kind of situation do you see yourself drinking this in? When's a good time of year or a good event to drink this at?
Mark: I think with the taste of the beer that it almost comes off as a Fall beer. It doesn't really have the spicy notes that most fall beers would have, but the maple flavor in it really reminds me of a cooler part of the year. I wouldn't go so much in the summer because I'm not picking up some of the citrusy, smoothiness that some of the summer ales have. And even though the beer is called an ale it feels a little deeper like an amber bock beer.
Scott: Yeah it has a lot of malts to it. You can kind of taste the malt.
James: Alright. Give us your arbitrary numerical rating.
Mark: On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give it a 6.
James: Alright. 6 on the BBA scale. Adam, final thoughts?
Adam: I like this beer. I think it's a good beer. I would drink it if it's available around here in the area...
James: Let's say your in Delaware, are you doing 16 Mile or Dogfish Head?
Adam: Oh I'm doing 16 Mile. I really like this beer.
James: Ok. What's your rating?
Adam: 7
James: Old Court Ale reels a (???) off of Rehoboth Bay. I'd like to thank 16 Mile Brewery for sending us this beer and encourage everyone to try it. If you don't live in Delaware or Maryland, then find someone on beeradvocate.com from Delaware and propose a trade with one of your local favorites. Thanks for watching. I'm James Knott and this is YOUR Better Beer Authority.
16
Mile
old
court
georgetown
delaware
ocean
city
maryland
beach
rehoboth
citrus
sussex
dewey
Better
beer
authority
james
knott
review
reviews
rating
ratings
critic
ale
lager
hops
malt
barley
water
yeast
import
brewing
brewery
abv
ibu
original
gravity
bitterness
bitter
taste
aroma
mouthfeel
head
grainbill