Hybrid Theory
Fort George Brewery + Public House

incredibly unique stuff here, a blend of barrel aged stout and spiced cider, not sure i have seen this sort of thing before, at least not with barrel aged stout as the beer thread, one of the more memorable beers we had during our epic visit to fort george. this looks like a big stout, near black, viscous, and leggy. the spice element is present right away in the aroma, wintery and cozy to me, autumnal anyway, and the same is true in the taste, not just on the back end either, but all through it. i get notes of anise, licorice, cinnamon, and clove, a mulling spice vibe, and they seem to pull a vanilla note from the barrel aspect of this, a coffee note from the base stout, and uniquely, the apple element of the cider is not lost to all the dark malt and roast, instead its got some obvious fruity tartness right in the middle, right there with a little raisin thing in the stout, glorious and unexpected together. quite a bit of alcohol to this, a strong coffee element, burnt oak, good whiskey, black pepper, cardamom, vanilla bean, and light honey or molasses sweetness from the cider too. the spiced aspect of this is super cool with the stout, the barrel adds a lot, and the cider brings new life to the stout, which has a ton of body and is not compromised in that way by the theoretically much lighter feeling cider. smooth and long to drink on, not overly sweet, and super complex, i was truly blown away by this, love the way the two drinks come together so cohesively, one of a kind! if they didnt, they should package this, would be curious to see how it would age...