Archive for the tag “Barrel-Aged”

30 Jan 2014

Scotch Silly Barrel Aged – Brasserie de Silly

ScotchSillyBarrelAged9% ABV
Purchased at Pangaea Bottle Shoppe ($15.49/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

This barrel-aged Scotch ale from the Belgium-based Brasserie de Silly pours a prune-ish brown with a tight, off-white head.  The boozy nose offers alcohol-doused caramel chews, plums and other dark fruits, as well as raisins and other dried fruits.  Barrel Aged Scotch Silly has a relatively light mouthfeel for the style, with some woody bitterness on the aftertaste, and an alcohol flavor reminiscent of apple brandy.  There is a bit more toffee on later swallows, with slightly more nuanced raisin and dried apricot flavors coming to the fore as it warms in the glass, at which point the alcohol taste begins to resemble dark rum.  It is quite tasty if you’re in the mood for a big beer, with flavors that get progressively better.

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ScotchSilly

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Posted in 3-4 Toasts, Barrel-Aged, Beer Review, Scotch Ale and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
10 Sep 2013

Barrel Roll No. 4: Hammerhead – Hangar 24 Brewing

Hangar24_hammerhead_bttl

12.4% ABV
Purchased at Capitol Beer and Tap Room ($16.99/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into pint glasses.

This fourth edition from Redlands-based Hangar 24 Brewing’s Barrel Roll Series is an English-style barley wine aged in whiskey and bourbon barrels.  It pours a muddy date brown with a tight, French vanilla-colored head.  Big, boozy aromas stretch out of the glass, bourbon-centric but with notes of vanilla, oak, brown sugar, nuts, and caramel.  Hammerhead is absolutely delicious on the first swallow, balancing filigreed sweetness with flavors of oak, bitter walnuts, and alcohol-marinated barrel wood.  The alcohol warmth settles in on the long and decadent finish, with dark fruits patrolling the perimeter, and toasted oak and muted English-style hops providing backup.

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Hangar24

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Posted in Barleywine, Barrel-Aged, Beer Review and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
03 Jul 2013

Cerasus – Logsdon Farmhouse Ales

cerasus_logsdon_btl

8.5% ABV
Purchased at Pangaea Bottle Shop ($20.49/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into globe glasses.

This barrel-aged Flanders Red Ale from Hood-River, Oregon-based Logsdon pours a rusty red with a cloudy body and a sizable pink champagne head.  The understated nose contains mostly the fresh Oregon cherries promised on the bottle, offset by breadiness and a grace note of caramelization. Marvelously restrained tart cherries greet you on the first swallow, backed by a refreshing sweetness, with a just little sourness remaining on the tongue.  Cerasus was brewed with two pounds of cherries per gallon, and although the cherry flavor is omnipresent, it is never sickly sweet.  Instead, the emphasis is on the sublime interplay between the rustic fruit flavors and the farmhouse yeast strains, with a neutral seltzer-y note keeping them all in perfect balance.

toasts-4.5   4.5 Toasts

Logsdon_Cerasus

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Posted in Barrel-Aged, Beer Review, Flanders, Red Ale and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
01 Jul 2013
1 Comment

Panil Divina – Barrel-aged version

 

panil_bttl6.5% ABV
Purchased at Pangaea Bottle Shoppe ($20.49/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into flute glasses.

This “Spontaneously Fermented Italian Ale” pours a honeyed gold with a large and extremely fluffy white head, and an angrily agitated body similar to champagne.  The enticing but not overpowering nose is a farmhouse morning of lemons, grapefruits, and dry grass.  Panil Divina smells like fresh country air and tastes like fresh farm produce – it offers a refreshing lemon taste on first swallow, with grapefruit and tangerine on the retreat.  Bitter melon, sour grapes, and barnyard funk flavors emerge in the satisfying aftertaste of this beer, which was fermented in open air with several yeasts and aged in French Oak.   It’s not as dry as you would expect, and is surprisingly balanced and thirst-quenching for such a high-maintenance brew.

toasts-4    4 Toasts

Panil

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Posted in Barrel-Aged, Beer Review, Italian and tagged , , , , , ,
30 May 2013

Prairie Noir – Prairie Artisan Ales

prairie-noir-bttl9% ABV
Purchased through The Rare Beer Club ($66.95/four 25.4 oz. bottles) and poured into pint glasses.

Oklahoma-based Prairie Artisan Ales only produced 100 cases of this “imperial oatmeal stout aged in oak whiskey barrels”, which pours a deep onyx with a scarce brown sugar head.  Prairie Noir offers a distinct nose of sawdust, bitter chocolate, coffee grounds, and fire-hot whiskey, but has a little more moderation and complexity on the tongue.  Freshly sawed lumber is the main flavor up front, followed by the expected coffee and chocolate notes, and some scorched sugar and burnt cereal on the retreat.  There is almost as much barrel as beer here, with that sawdust-y wood flavor coming to dominate the profile, along with hard alcohol and vanilla bean.  Allowing the beer some time to warm brings out more of the rich stout flavors.

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PraireNoir

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Posted in Barrel-Aged, Beer Review, Imperial Oatmeal Stout and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
15 Jan 2013

Old Rasputin XV Bourbon Barrel-Aged – North Coast Brewing

Old-Rasputin-XV

11.9% ABV

Purchased at Pangaea Two Brews ($10/6 oz. pour) and served in mini-snifter glasses.

This barrel-aged version of North Coast’s venerable Russian Imperial Stout pours black piano key ebony with a thick and billowy almond-colored head.  It offers a strong but welcoming nose of coffee, chocolate, vanilla, and a very prominent booze-drenched oak aroma.  Old Rasputin XV is velvety on the tongue, putting forth some amazing bourbon, chocolate, and vanilla flavors, with the expected barrel wood entering the profile on the long, warm finish.  This is a beer that takes it’s time on your palette, offering some fascinating touches of coffee, banana, nuts, alcohol burn, and even some scorched caramel.  And yet for all of its bigness, Old Rasputin XV is actually an incredibly subtle brew.

 toasts-5-small   5 Toasts

NorthCoast_OldRas15

 toasts-4.5   4.5 Toasts

 
Posted in Barrel-Aged, Beer Review, Russian Imperial Stout and tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
27 Apr 2012

Top Sail Imperial Porter (Full Sail Brewing)

9.5% ABV
Purchased at The Davis Beer Shoppe ($11.99/22 oz. bottle) and poured into lowball glasses.

His Notes:

Full Sail’s bourbon barrel-aged imperial porter pours an impenetrable black with an insignificant brown head.  The powerful nose whacks you with dried fruit (especially figs, raisins, and berries), old wood, vanilla, and hard alcohol.  Whiskey and dried dark fruits are also predominant on the palette, with only the bitterness of baker’s chocolate to remind you of this brew’s imperial porter roots.  Top Sail was aged in Kentucky bourbon casks for a full year, and the resultant beer is completely dominated by whiskey and oak barrel flavors.  It could use some more richness to balance out the alcohol fire, but Top Sail is still a solid slow sipper.

  3.5 Toasts

Her Notes:

   3 Toasts


Posted in Barrel-Aged, Beer Review, Imperial Porter and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

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