Gin Barrel Aged Demolition
Elliott Bay Brewing Co.

this is really interesting stuff, an old school ipa as a base beer, with quite a bit of crystal malt to it and a reddish color, but awesome clarity and a high rising off white head, lots of oily west coasty hops, citrus and spice to it, and high alpha, bitter, and outrageously vibrant with the gin barrel, highly botanical, juniper and lime and booze, lots of alcohol for its modest actual strength, super fresh tasting to me, and at first i find it a little bit overly intense both on gin and on hops, its weird together, especially being so bitter, but as it warms and my palate gets used to it, i really start to like it a whole lot more, the gin is extended nicely by all the malt in here, and i like the spiciness of the hops with the booziness of the gin. its fuller bodied but its clean, there is bright oak to it, subtle vanilla, red grapefruit, and heady weed, it retains its identity as an ipa very well, even though the gin element is also really robust. i like this more and more with every sip, but a little goes a long way no doubt, and i was glad to be sharing this around a couple of ways. inventive and well executed beer, i dont often like barrel aged hoppy beer, but in this sense i do, because its more of an old school ipa base, and the grain structure is needed. an oddity but a fun one.