Vito Oak Aged Strong Ale
Wallace Brewing / Orehouse Tasting Room

Review: 2304
Name: Oaked Aged Vito
Brewery: Wallace Brewing
Location: Wallace, ID
Style: Barrel Barrel-Aged American Strong Ale
ABV: 9%
Canned: 2018 302 of 1000
Date: 19 Jan 2025
Continuing my cellar clear out, I am still working through some of my older stuff. I went to Wallace and explored the history of the red-light district, and then we wandered over to the brewery. I sidled up to the bar stool and began to sip through what they had on tap. The person behind the bar was chatty and engaging. The bathroom was fabulous, with barely cladded 40-pinup girls. I picked up this beer, which has sat in my cellar since then. I am using a tulip glass and serving the beer at 46 degrees. The pour created a frothy, airy, one-fingered, light tan head with excellent retention. The slow dissipation left chunks of lacing on the glass. The beer's color is dark brown with a rusty mahogany hue, and the clarity is semi-opaque charting at SRM 28. The appearance of the beer is above average for this style.
Nosing the glass, I smell caramel, dried cherries, toffee, leather, oak, char, tobacco, burnt sugar, raisins, dates, and earthy notes. Smelling the beer again, I notice plums, vanilla, bready, roasty malts, and malty sweetness.
Sipping the beer, I taste leather, light smoke, oak, char, dried cherries, orange peel, toffee, tobacco, earthy dates, raisins, caramel, molasses, vanilla, bready, and roasty malts. Tasting the beer again, I noticed malty sweetness, floral, plum, light Maillard, and butterscotch.
The mouthfeel is tannic and slightly astringent, and it finishes dry. The body is medium-plus and has low carbonation.
I enjoyed this beer. The aging helped smooth out the big hop profile with a firm malt backbone. It is a good start to the day for a beer review.

2023 vintage: Up North Distillery Single Malt Whiskey

Poured from a 22 ounce bottle with a handwritten tag denoting #40 of 500 and 2023 into a snifter at 52 degrees.

Look- Amber brown, translucent, no visible particulate, tan creamy head, above average head retention and lacing.

Smell- Oak, earthy, grassy, slight plum, medium strength of scent.

Taste- Oak, earthy, vanilla, slight plum, very slight whiskey, medium strength of flavor.

Feel- Medium body, average carbonation, moderately creamy, moderate bitterness, mild sweetness.

Overall- Amber brown and translucent with above average head retention and lacing. Bouquet was oak, earthy and grassy with medium strength. Flavor was oak with some slight notes of vanilla, plum and whiskey. Feel was medium body with moderate bitterness and creaminess. Overall this beer delivered a below average drinking experience. It would have benefited from a longer stent in the Up North whiskey barrels.

neat beer here if you dont mind them on the sweet side, sort of presents itself like an english barleywine, lots of malt layers and caramelized grain sugar really defines this, a long boiled vibe, dense and concentrated and with the alcohol only tempered slightly by the oak, which adds some vanilla richness to this but doesnt mellow it all that much. i get some english crystal type malt, more of a dry nutty kilned red type too, and maybe even some wheat as this has a ton of body to it. toffee and golden raisin and butterscotch all swirl around in here, and there is a mild bready yeast element too. the oak aspect is there, making this even more earthy, but also sort of extending the sweetness, which for me becomes a lot as this warms up, palate coating and even sort of sticky despite an attempted balancing effort by some late hop bitterness that seems lost in the malt sea. there is a ton of flavor here and i think its one of the more ambitious wallace beers i have encountered, but its also a little massive and heavy and a small pour was more than enough for me. the strong ale lover will find a sweet, sturdy, and cozy sipper here.

Waxed bottle split into glasses; unsure of the vintage. Clear bright amber-ish pour with a creamy off-khaki head. Strong oaky malt presence in the form of toasty caramel and toffee with some impressions of dark fruits and even some citrus notes. Warm and inviting with a woody dry finish. Not boozy, but carries some heft. Nice stuff.

2016 vintage bottle #499 of 1000 from Albertsons. Strong malt presence, lots of wood notes. Aroma is woody, taste favors the malts. Lots of emphasis on the oak. Tempered, sip and enjoy.. this one grows on you

 

 

 

 

Pours a medium to dark bronze amber with a thin off-white head that dissipates to patches with slight lacing. Aroma of mild caramel malt, plums, oak and a light fruit component from the rum; smells a lot like a traditional red ale. Flavor is dry caramel and biscuit malt, hints of toffee, plums and dark dried fruit; finishes dry with biscuit malt and lingering oak and dry grassy hops. Medium bodied with a light creaminess. Like the aroma, the flavor leans towards a beefed up red ale with the malt and fruit flavors of that style, but with a little more biscuit malt and oak which brings it into alignment with the old ale style stated on the label. Rum is not a strong component in the flavor, except maybe making this a bit more warming. Nice malty, oaked strong ale. Hand numbered bottle, classy.