Carpe Brewem Barrel Aged Wheatwine
Empyrean Brewing Company

Pours a hazy blonde-honey color with a tall head of 3 fingers.

Lots of apricot and melon notes, with a stiff, woody Chardonnay aroma followed by bright citrus and a little booze. Complex, bright, bubbly, fun.

Flavor is pleasantly sweet, with a peach-bubble gum flavor with hints of dried apricot, rose hips, dried orange peel, and wine heat. Enjoyable.

Feel is firstly carbonated, then builds to a chalky medium body, and ends on a full force of heat and wine dryness.

Overall, a solid Wheatwine. Something not to be taken lightly, and you won't enjoy it if you're not paying attention to its attributes. It has a very complex profile that entices the tongue and dances around wonderfully. Again, peach bubble gum meets a nice woody wine with alcohol heat. Nicely done.

Got in a trade with The-Adjunct-Hippie. 12 ounce bottle into snifter, best before 8/2017. Pours slighly hazy/cloudy golden/amber color with a 1 finger fairly dense and fluffy white head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a good amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big lemon, apricot, golden raisin, pear, apple, white wine, vanilla, toasted oak, honey, wheat, and bread; with light pepper, buttery toffee, coconut, and yeast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity/earthy yeast, wine barrel, and moderate pale malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big lemon, apricot, golden raisin, pear, apple, white wine, vanilla, toasted oak, honey, wheat, bread, light pepper/toffee/coconut, and yeast/oak earthiness. Light herbal bitterness and tannic wine/oak spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes of lemon, apricot, golden raisin, pear, apple, white wine, vanilla, toasted oak, honey, wheat, bread, pepper, light toffee/coconut, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/earthy yeast, wine barrel, and moderate pale malt flavors; with a great malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and zero cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Fairly crisp/drying from carbonation, but not overly prickly/foamy. Medium-high carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/grainy/bready, and lightly sticky/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 11%. Overall this is a great barrel aged wheatwine style! All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/earthy yeast, wine barrel, and moderate pale malt flavors; very smooth, crisp, and easy to drink for the big ABV. The balanced between white wine and wheatwine flavors was pretty much perfect. Very bright/fruity, but well balanced with the malt and oak character. Very unique, but really well done for the brewers intent on this style. A very enjoyable offering.

$9.99 for 48 ounces of two varieties of barrel aged beer? That could be a really nice deal…or a gigantic waste of half a lap dance. First up: 12er of one of my favorite styles.

The pour is apricot puree with a big, sticky head. Nose takes a ninety pound weakling approach: faint citrus, wheat, wine, but little of any of it.

Wheatwine - Chardonnay Barrel Aged tastes like the porn love child of a amped of hefe & a sugar cane field. Enough sweetness that I can hear the bugles in my pancreas calling everyone to the ramparts. Banana that’s been drowned in sugar, revived, then drowned again. Underneath is mild citrus, light wine cooler, white grape juice. I’d swear the finish was Belgian yeast if I didn’t know better. Soft, unfocused, & zero alcohol.

By far the best offering I’ve had from Empyrean, this is a wheatwine that makes a mockery of the style, but it’s tasty, so who gives a rip? Very good brew.

Draught. Colour is golden and the pour is hazy. Smells of sweet white wine. Chardonnay is readily evident on palate. Light, champagney feel. Deceptively high abv. I think this is a really well done beer. The wheatwine pairs great with the chardonnay barrel aging. However, I don't particularly care for chardonnay, so while I respect this beer, it's not my personal favorite.