Cozy-est Sweater
Iron Horse Brewery

 

a special one off edition of cozy-er sweater, which is a bigger imperial oatmeal stout aged on hard maple. this version is then aged again in rye barrels, and then conditioned on brandied apricots and saffron, pretty neat idea. the bottles say this is super mega ultimate limited edition, i get it okay. i have bottle number 39 of 168 i think, but the writing is a little smudged. the label says aged since 2016, im not sure how long ive had the bottle, at least a few years. once we break through the thick silver wax its a fairly thin pour, almost dead still, cola colored, and without much viscosity, weird. the nose is old, but the oxidation notes fly out of the glass pretty quick, and after a few minutes its much more compelling. i like how its not huge, no need for the 10% abv or higher range, there is a lightness here that lets the alcohol stay out of the way, the body stay reasonable, and the sweetness be mellow, i also think it allows space for the added ingredients to be subtle, instead of them having to be forced just to get through a ton of roast. the brandy part is in front of any apricot, although there is cool generic fruitiness to the nose and taste of this, fruit leather, raisin, date, cognac, i get slight fruit vinegar astringency too at temperature, but this isnt infected. the rye spice is a neat touch, its more earthy than bourbon, pulls some of the oats and the oak forward, and i think a maple and molasses note too, i get spices in this like root beer and dr. pepper, as well as a light vanilla note. not a whole lot of saffron, i didnt expect there to be, and maybe this has faded over time, but it has a chance in here because of how light this is otherwise, so i think good recipe decisions abound here. there is a light floral sweetness perhaps from it, and i think it plays well with the brandied apricot piece, way cool, just wish i tried this newer. the hard maple piece is cool too, distinctly different than oak. the lack of carbonation also hurts this a little, as does its age. easily the most ambitious iron horse beer i have ever had or seen, i wish they would do a little more of this sort of thing. better than expected execution too, perfect thanksgiving share beer that gets better as it warms.