Merlot Crüe
Sixpoint Brewery

Thanks to sixpoint for the trade!
Appears a hazy, dark amber with a small, off-white head that quickly fizzles away into a soapy collar. No lacing, or cap to speak of.
Smell is of vanilla, red wine grapes, caramel, brown sugar, and ripe fruit.
Taste is of the mentined aromas with more vanillin tannins coming through and a touch of caramel.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied, slight abv noticable, dry finish.

Barrel Aged Belgian Barleywine? I'm even more down. Poured along with the regular.

Pours a nice copper brown with no lacing or head. Both are about the same color.

Smell: Also about the same(maybe another misbottle in the trade?) Caramel, Spicy Yeast, Fruity notes, it's almost brandy-ish. More booze and maybe a bit more wood.

Taste: Brown Sugar, Fruity, wine character is barely noticeable, for the most part uncarbonated Grand Crüe. A bit smoother and a lot more pleasant.

Many thanks to Aaron for providing this unique brew for sampling. According to the note from the brewer this is, “a motley blend of a powerful grand cru and 7 months of aging in a merlot barrel. Bottled 10/6/06. 122 IBUs limited to 6 pins and ten cases”.

Appearance: Murky merlot brown that turns deep orange when held to light. No head and just bear bones bubbles around the rim of the glass. No carbonation visible or felt. Makes sense as this beer is apparently bottled from cask and quite strong.

Aroma: Earthy and woody with some figs and a menagerie of fruits.

Taste: Wowza this is something. Boozy with a lot of fig and dark fruit character. Some spice in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Flat, though in this case I’m not sure that it’s a problem. This beer drinks like a cordial in many ways. Subtle sourness and a soft bitter finish. Medium bodied. Warming.

Drinkability: For 13 plus % this is one hell of drinkable brew. ABV is not as noticeable as would be expected and is certainly felt more than tasted.

Dispensed from a pin cask into a small wine glass at room temperature. Pours a somewhat clear, burgundy, merlot red color. No head whatsoever. No carbonation at all either. Smells a bit like vinegar soaked wood with some buttery alcohol aromas as well. The taste is quite interesting...at first I noticed what seemed to be alcohol soaked lychees and a nice pithy, vinous character. Warm, honey like alcohol comes through after the fruit flavors. The alcohol also becomes much more noticeable as you get towards the bottom of the glass. Super smooth mouthfeel with a medium body. Again, no carbonation..very odd. To be honest, it doesn't taste like any beer I've ever had before, so I'm at a loss for words. This is an entirely different animal but I am intrigued none the less and think its quite an ambitious brew.

On cask at Barcade. Interesting experiment from the always adventurous Sixpoint brewers. Hazy dark amber in color with little head. Aroma is of dark fruits and spices. First sip is slightly sour and the flavors are all over the place (in an exciting way) with hints of smoked malts, spices, oak and merlot (of course). I hope to see more barrel aging from these guys in the future.

I had this at the brewery by special request. I had requested the Grand Crue, and Shane brought out this as well. A real treat.

A - Brown, slight red tinge. Small 1 finger head. Left some nice lacing.

S - Holy Fruit!

T - Butterscotch! Malt and fruit. Dates, plums etc. The butterscotch is very prominant though. A very complex beer. Alcohol isnt almost non existent.

M - Smooth. Warming. Sweet.

D - Very drinkable. This is worth savoring though and sipping.

Sampled from an unlabeled 12oz bottle, courtesy of the Belgian Beer Fest.

Color is a deep, dark chestnut. Bier is clear, though dark and dense. No visible carbo within, and head is negligible, save for a few leftover bubbles near the rim from the hard-pour. Lacing is also non-existant. I guess 13.3% abv will do that, eh? ;-)
Nose is right up-front with strong winey notes. The "heat" is also easily evident just from the aroma. Body is medium, perhaps a touch more. Silky smooth on the tongue, though there is absolutely no carbonation at all here. None. Reminds me of the mouthfeel when drinking World Wide Stout.

Flavor has a touch of sweetness, almost in a brown sugar kind of way. Merlot character is strong, with flavors of grape, wood, maybe some raisin and fig coming forth... Quite warming from the get-go, too. Shows off some spicy aspects at the finish. Pretty tasty, like a fruitcake soaked in a combo of merlot and a barleywine. Thnx to Goodbyeohio for the tip on trying this bier, my first Sixpoint offering.

Prosit!!

overall: 3.9
appearance: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | mouthfeel: 4 | drinkability: 4

940

Found this at the cask ale festival at the Brazen Head. A very good beer that just couldn't finish

A: Deep dark, almost colored of dark red wine. It truly pushes the boundaries of how a beer can look. Little carbonation and very opaque .

S: You can tell this has been aged in a merlot cask. Strong scent of red wine with a lot of malty notes. Tickles your nose just right, much like a good red wine

T: The major problem here is that the alcohol drops to the bottom. Therefore it tastes incredible up until the final few sips, where it slowly turns to smell like cough syrup. The pleasantness of the rest of the beer is overshadowed by this

M: A medium-bodied mouthfeel with the amount of alcohol in the drink becoming more and more noticable as you let it linger in your mouth longer.

D: Too strong, too thick to be drank multiple times. But absolutely worth a shot