Barrel Aged Total Chaos
White Birch Brewing

 

 

May 2011, batch one, thanks to DrEntropy for this interesting thing.

Light fizzy head, very dark almost pitch black.

Nose starts with sour tart fruits, soured malt, light funk, with hint of brett like horsehair funk. Hint of coco, dark malts chewy hops.

Taste starts with light funk, caramel crystal malts , light booze, dark malts, cocoa and powdered choc, light caramel and bock like fruit, some baryard funk.

Mouth is med bod, good carb

Overall not bad but not quite what I expected it to be.

From Batch One dated May 2011. Sampled on March 30, 2012. The pour is an opaque black with a short-lived medium head. The oak barrel presents itself loud and clear on the nose and it supersedes the typical Porter sensations you come to expect suich as smoke, dark malts, and mild hops. They are there but you have to go looking for them The body comes in well above medium and creamy. The oak barrel gives this an entirely unique taste with dark malts muted and an acidic bitterness coming up from behind. Slightly fruity. An easy to drink beer despite its 8% ABV.

Pours a pretty solid black with a thin tan head that recedes but never really goes away. The aroma is very vinous, lots of tart fruit mixed in with bits of chocolate and caramel malts. Vanilla and woody oak are strong in this as well. Taste follows the aroma very well. There's a base porter in there with its chocolate and caramel, but its hidden underneath lots of woody oaky fruity tartness. I know this was a wine barrel and the vinous nature really comes through in spades. Medium body with a light level of carbonation and a sweet and tart mouthfeel. This is a nice beer, but I feel the base beer could have been a bit thicker to help it stand up to the wine and tannins from the barrel.