Débutante - Red Wine Barrel Aged
Stillwater Artisanal Ales

 

 

 

 

So... on tap at max's today.

The bee pours a copper ambe color with fairly good head retention and lacing. Don't get a whole lot on the nose, though the wine barrel aging is fairly prominent. Otherwise, I get a hint of vanilla and light malt. There's a bit more flavor on the palate, but otherwise the flavor profile replicates the nose. There is some light sweetness, but the finish is fairly dry, with a hint of wine flavor to intermix with the light vanilla and malt flavor. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, and the beer finishes well. Alcohol is very well integrated into the flavor profile, and this is an easy drinking beer with no off flavors.

Nothing extraordinairly here, but this is a nice enough effort from Brian S. at Stillwater.

On-tap at Max's Fells Point

A- Light orange, no head, no lacing.

S - Light fruit, yeast.

T - Booze soak tropical fruits, funky yeast.

M - Smooth, low carbonation.

O - Decent sessionable beer. I would have like a little more flavor imparted by the red wine and the barrel.

I had this on-tap at Max's during Baltimore Beer Week. Served in a tasting glass.

Appearance: Pours a yellowish cloudy amber with a small amount of white head.

Smell: Reminds me of spiced apple juice. Crisp malt and some yeast spice.

Taste: There is some light malt along with mild fruit notes. Apple and some yeast spice. I'm getting a little wine, but not much from the wood.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with tingly carbonation and a dry finish.

Overall: The fruity flavors were a bit much. They weren't very wine like. Overall this was a good beer and I'm glad I got to try it.

On tap at Max's Taphouse in Baltimore for Baltimore beer week.

Beer is reddish / amber with a mild haze, haloed head of small white bubbles, breaks, low retention, no lacing, low carbonation.

Aroma is really nice on this one, sweet, mild, yeast comes through well, the overall aroma is mildly acetic with hints of lactic, other esters, a mild brett.

The beer is light in body with a mild tartness and some tannic bitterness at the back, and interesting beer overall. The sweetness of the base beer sneaks through a little, I enjoyed it a lot. I'd have it again.

On tap at Max's for the Stillwater BBW event.

Hazy light gold color, slight amber hue with retentive white head and nice lacing. Subtle wine and oak on the aroma with light pale malt and a lingering floral finish. Flavor of this is greatly improved from the base beer and one of the more subtle and well integrated Stillwater BA beers so far. Peach and citrus fruit forward, before a light wine (tastes more like a white, but that's probably just because the barrel is much lighter than the BA stateside, autumnal or existent) and floral finish. Smooth, soft body with a dry finish. One of my favorites of the day and a pleasant surprise over the base beer which I wasn't a fan of.

On tap at Max's during today's Stillwater event. Served in a cervoise.

Pours a slightly-hazy peach color with a good white head and a bit of lacing on the way down. The nose brings some light oak and a bit of wine and accompanying tannin. A bit of stone fruit character there as well. The flavor brings forward stone fruit and light citrus. A bit of wine and oak. All really well integrated. Very mellow with low carbonation and a smooth, semi-dry finish. Really nice done; this beer was greatly enhanced by the barrel.