Navigator - Syrah Barrel-Aged
Ballast Point Brewing Company

Dark ruby-brown with a small beige head. Aroma of caramel, plenty of vanilla, light wine and some wood. The flavor has a light red wine touch, some wood, rich toasty malt, light bitterness, some caramel, and a drying, strong alcoholic finish. Full bodied with small bubbles and a woody, tannic, and lightly astringent finish. Interesting aroma, but the malt character that should shine in a doppelbock is a little too covered by the barrel. Not a home run, but I would give it another try.

Five ounce taster glass at the Ballast Point 11th Anniversary Celebration

Color was darker than most doppelbocks I have ever tasted, looked a lot like Ayinger Celebrator, but had a lot more bubbles and carbonation, head was also darker tan

Smell was lots of wine and a little malt, a little overpowering with the Syrah aroma

Taste was very good, dry at first but immediately leads to a sweet finish, nice caramel malt, and the wine really made this brew more complex, like nothing I have ever had before

Could drink a couple more ounces of this at that is probably it, but for what it is, pretty drinkable

This was the first special brew served today at 2:00 pm and it did not seem to disappoint many people, cool to be one of the few to try this one because everybody was saying that this most likely will not be brewed again