Rest
The Bruery

This was once again sadly a share bottle with rudzud, bottled 5/25/17

Pours a tan very fizzy bubbly head that hits almost 1 finger but fades quite quickly, no lacing but nice legs, super dark brown basically black color

Nose is like a typical Bruery imperial stout, thick fudgey molasses and cocoa, chewy cocoa, some semi-hot alcohol notes, then barrels kick in as that fades, an interesting red wine character, with a little vanilla barrel and raw oak, a little sweet candy bourbon, then some caramel, nougat, and baking spices kick in the next wave, fair fruity notes and even some cherry

Taste brings more dark malts and that typical Bruery imperial stout, fruity cocoa and a bit fudgey, but not super chocolatey, then the fruity red wine saturates, quite fruity in general, some grape must and cherry, and trail mix notes, some caramel and baking spices in the background, barrel also brings some vanilla and a little sweet bourbon candy, tingly hot alcohol in the mix, and some acidity, with a little roast, while the flavors are nice, they don't seem to play well and somehow the fruity clashes with the dark ale, drier finish with a bit more alcohol

Mouth is med to fuller bod but feels thin for what it is, med-light fizzy carb, some hot booze tingle

Overall while I started to get some nice flavors and aromas, everything seemed to clash and nothing went smoothly, even with the age it didn't seem to homogenize well. Not sure why, and it made this beer hard to drink.

I've been focusing on the older backlog of a few thousand beers that I've neglected to do "last weekend" type of reviews a little bit, and I think this beer consumed during the Khabib/Gaethje undercard is worth doing the Monday after, mostly because of how good this beer "could" have been.

Pours a dark color, think like the darkest, most fortified cabernet sauvignon meets Abacus levels of dark color. Just that dark red to the edge. Was impressed with the 1/3" light beige head on it, thought it was gonna be a gusher or dead flat. From the appearance, I was hopeful, impressed, etc. . . but then the aroma had a slight twang to it.

Taste, yup, let's confirm, this was infected. But at 13%, it seems like the infection was not able to really muster its usual strength, there was just a mild sour and metallic twang to it, but otherwise, did not screw up what tasted like an equal parts red wine and bourbon barrel strong ale leaning to the dark side of things without a lot of roasted malt, more like a vinous quad kind of feel to it, but smoother. Hid the alcohol at least.

 

 

 

Bottle into a tulip appears a dark mahogany with ruby clarity and light khaki head that fades quick to a ring around the perimeter.

Aroma is vinous with brown sugar, raw oak earthy and herbal.

Tastes raw oak, vinous, herbal almost medicinal with plenty of boozy and a bacterial tanginess outside what you would expect from the wine barrel aging.

Medium in body with modest carbonation, its ok at best and unfortunately has been getting worse with every bottle ive opened. This is a classic example of a beer that sounds great on paper that just didnt pan out.

 

2017 Vintage

Appearance: Very dark brown with a modest-sized dark beige head that slowly faded. So far so good as it's a good looking beer.

Smell: Bourbon notes feature prominently in the nose followed by mild brown sugar, and faint coffee/roasted malt aroma. Maybe it's the power of suggestion but I think I get faint wine notes. Nice nose on this one.

Taste: True to the nose, the bourbon notes have a prominent presence followed by roasted malts notes, mild brown sugar, modest dark chocolate, and tannic oak notes. The finish is fairly dry and while the bourbon is prominent it does not taste sweet.

Mouth-feel: On the light side of medium-bodied with a medium level of carbonation.

Overall: A good Strong Ale. The bourbon bal-aging is nicely complemented by the wine bal-aging resulting in a taste profile that features strong bourbon notes but does not have a lingering sweetness. I should have got more.

Winey tasting ale. Enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

750ml bottle poured into a tulip.

Serving temp 50F

Dark brown, off white, slightly frothy medium head, which mostly diminishes.

Nose: red wine, chocolate, oak, cherry

Taste: Oak, caramel, chocolate, cherry, red wine.

Feel: Medium body, creamy texture, malty finish.

Overall: Red wine was dominant in the nose but was milder in the flavor, with chocolate, caramel and oak standing out more in the flavor. Cherry started to come through as it warmed/oxidized.

Very good