Lux #13
Saugatuck Brewing Company

Barrel aged Lux 13 from Saugatuck. 12 oz can. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Received from @Whyteboar in NBW BIF #16. Reviewed 29/12/22. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Stamped on can bottom “04/02/21”. Served at 53.2 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 57.7 degrees.
Appearance – 3.5.
First pour – Medium Amber (SRM 12), clear.
Body – Ruby Brown (SRM 24), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear lite, translucent ruby.
Head – Average (Maximum 1.5 cm, aggressive center pour), tan, high density, quickly fizzing away to create a 0.1 cm bubble ring and a thin broken cap.
Lacing – None, not surprising at 13 % ABV.
Aroma – 4 – Sweet, dates. No hops, no yeast, no barrel.
Flavor – 4 – Flavor follows the nose – lightly sweet, no hops, no yeast. No barrel although a slight tannic bitterness does follow. No ethanol (13 % ABV as marked on label) aroma or taste. Light and pleasant gastric warming occurs. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4.5 – Medium, almost syrupy, soft but lively carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4 Looks like any dark RIS/BW/strong ale. Aroma and flavor both suggest sweet dates. No barrel and no whiskey/whisky flavors. Ends tannic and bitter, like chewing on oak.

 

 

12 ounce can, canned on 04/02/21. Thanks to Brutaltruth for this brew! Served in a snifter, the beer pours a dark brown color with not quite an inch tan head. Head retention and lacing are both good. Aroma is nice, the brew smells like caramel, bourbon, vanilla, dark fruit and toffee. For the most part the taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also some oak and molasses flavors noticeable too. Starts off sweet and then has an earthy bitterness in the finish. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's a bit syrupy and slick with a moderate amount of carbonation. I thought this was a good overall brew, worth trying if you get the chance!

 

2021-12-13
12oz can served in a tulip. Dated 04/02/21. Received from @Whyteboar in a LIF associated with BIF #14.

Pours a thick, syrupy, dark amber color with a tiny head composed of tiny bubbles which slowly struggled their way up to the surface. Smell is booze, barrel, dates, raisins, figs. Some woody bitterness.

Taste is really interesting. Sweet, mostly figs and toffee, maybe a syrupy sweetness that is tree-like but not maple, still raisins/dates in the flavor, and that woody bitterness is definitely there to help barely offset all the sweetness. I get a bit of a root beer flavor, and definitely some vanilla can be pulled out of the brew, too.

Mouthfeel is also interesting. Thick, but dry and faintly prickling with effervescence. This is a really nice beer.

Very dark beer, bordering on stout territory. Surprisingly good head production, although it's a touch fizzy; retention is adequate.

Bourbon is the story of the nose, and it's a wonderful story. Oak, mash, vanilla, caramel, raisin, red grape, molasses, and leather.

Surprisingly sweet on the palate. The bitterness of the hops and oak aren't lost by any means, but it's a bitterness that more stands apart from, rather than tempering, the sweetness. The result is a beer that has an American Barleywine-like bitter edge, but the sweetness of a dessert wine. Tasting notes include red grape, cherry, brown sugar, leather, pine, bark, vanilla. While the bourbon has a huge impact on the overall flavor profile, it doesn't so much taste like bourbon; it's quite complementary to the huge malt base.

Big, impressively assertive beer, but it's a giant with gentle hands. There's no hiding the alcohol, but it never comes across as harsh, and you can sit and savor as long as you want. Long wet finish.

This is a really unique beer, with a heavy malty sweetness on one side, and a bark-like bitterness on the other.

 

 

This is a beauty. Dark chestnut hue. Minimal head. Very little carbonation which complements the smooth body..Sweet with hints of marshmallow, caramel, and bourbon oak. 13% abv is not noticeable in the taste profile. Excellent job!

 

 

12oz can. Poured out an opaque, dark, dark brown color with a small, khaki-colored head of foam. It left sudsy trails of lace on the glass. It smelled of bourbon, oak, vanilla, toffee and dark chocolate. Sweet chocolate, toffee and bourbon taste with oak, vanilla and wood-like taste.