Cask Aged Hoppelbock
The Livery

On tap at The Livery.

Pours a hazy amber color with a thin off-white head and not much lacing. The nose carries some light notes of hops plus a bit of oak and a mild sourness. Fairly pleasant, though a bit odd. As it warms, an unfortunate acetic character comes through. The flavor is about the same--starts out with a moderate pleasing sourness along with a few hoppy notes and then gets hit pretty hard with some acetic character, which is then very, very apparent in the finish. Pretty cool concept, though it went a bit astray.

A: Amber/copper color, hazy. A very small off-white head that settles quickly. Basically no lacings.

S: Kind of a weird smell that's hard to get a grip on. Plenty of barrel notes, oak and funky wet hay, and gentle yeast aromas coupled with malts and fading citric and spicy hops.

T: The taste is also rather strange with a composition of very different flavors. Big barrel notes and oak. Some funk (dust, wet hay and leaves rather than horse blanket and aged cheese). Gentle spicy hops with minimal hints of sweet fruits. Caramel and malts. Some salt flavors. Vanilla. The hops are restrained. The finish is mildly bitter with quite boozy alcohol.

M: Medium body, smooth yet somewhat sticky. Gentle carbonation.

D: Kind of a weird beer, yet interesting. Slightly unbalanced, but it manages quite well to hold together a set of very divergent flavors and aromas.

Thanks to Joey for sharing this one tonight at La Bella, what an odd and interesting beer this was, quite a surprise. What I experienced tonight seems quite different from the review below, or from other reviews from another site, but the bottle was clearly labeled and I think I am putting this in the correct place. A dry-hopped, barrel-aged, lager. I believe this came from a 750ml bottle, if I'm not mistaken, and 10% abv.

Poured a fiery orange color with a thick head that rapidly descended to a ring.

Tangy hops, citrus fruits, yeast, spices, hints of pepper, and brett? It sure smells like it and we were all quite surprised, not sure if it was intended but it worked quite well with the beer. Fruity and a little more malt sweetness as it warmed up. After about 15 minutes or so, and the beer had time to warm up, the beer almost transformed into a more sweet one with some sugary nuts and honey on toast, yet still the brett was quite evident in the background.

Flowers, brett and quite a lot actually, sweet apples, pear, what I can only describe as "dust," some hope flowery bitterness. Very interesting and quite tasty, complex. I think there's a dopplebock behind that brett blanket but it hardly comes out to show itself.

Medium carbonation with a dryness in the finish that seems to increase a bit as it warms up.

A-Hazy, medium copper with a thin off-white head. No lace left at all.

S-Bready malt followed by an interesting hop boquet and a lovely wafting of apple.

T-Big malt present up fron with light bourbon notes a pop of spicy hops and a very interesting apple finsih.

M-Medium-heavy body with a nice smoothness and a bit of stickiness.

D-Smooth and easy going. Nice use of barrel aging without it coming out tasting like the barrel. Good interaction between the malt, hops and fruit notes. This one is a sipper even though the 10% ABV wasn't even noticed.

Snifter on a pit stop on a road trip to Kalamazoo. The beer pours brown-amber and opaque with a thin ring of foam and a modest spray of lacing.

The aroma is a mix of wood, vanilla, and Saaz over a background of caramel malts.

Tastes like it smells, in about the order you'd expect. This is one weird beer, but I like it.

Striking copper color with ample carbonation and a decent bubbly head served in a 10 ounce snifter by some of the friendliest brewery staff I’ve ever met. Aroma of German Malt and Saaz hops intertwined with caramel and wood. Rich caramel base flavor, butter and touches of pilsner malt start the flavor. Herbal/grassy hops and pineapple finish it. The alcohol is well concealed until the beer reaches near room temp at which points some boozy fruity flavors, apple mainly, shine through. The barrel aging doesn’t seem to play a major roll. Woodiness is quite subdued and there is little if any vanilla or oak to speak of. Touches of leafiness come out as well. Drinkability is decent. This might get a touch heavy after a while but I could down a couple snifter without flinching. Nothing stunning but a solid, balanced, and well crafted brew.