Jamestown Old Ale
O'Connor Brewing Co.

2016 vintage, bottle #0699 of 1920. Poured in a snifter, the beer is a deep, vibrant, molasses brown coloring, with a thin, sparse, filmy, off-white head on the surface. Aromas of rich apple and caramel forward, with subtle whiskey spices, roasted toffee, vanilla, and old world fruit notes of date and fig. Smells very rich, heavy, and sweet. Flavors are rich and roasted caramel and toffee forward, with highlights of apple, pear, and vanilla. Subtle whiskey heat and spice make themselves known at the back of the palate, with some woody and earthy characteristics, as well. Old world fruit notes begin to build, with solid notes of fig, date, and raisin building a cloying transition into the aftertaste. Slick and full bodied, this beer dominates the palate. The aforementioned aftertaste continues to imbue with richly sweet notes of vanilla, fruit, and subtle hints of whiskey warmth. The finish is slick, heavy, and slow, with a solid cloying linger. This is a very solid beer, and one that perfects the use of barrel aging as an accent, rather than the bulk of the flavor.

Not quite as tasty as the whiskey-barrel aged version but pretty darn close. Superbly done. Seek. Seek and devour.

Poured a brown body with little head and lace. Dark fruit aroma, especially plums, come through along with sticky/sweet malts (caramel/toffee) and hints of booze. Sticky, fuller bodied beer that has wood smoothness and is a slow sipper with toffee/fig/plum/vanilla sweetness (plus caramel, maybe) and then beer has just enough hops in it to finish crisp and boozy. Not the most flavorful or balanced old ale but is pretty good and worth buying a bottle for aging.