Erudite Crawfish
Clown Shoes

A: Poured into a snifter to a deep amber beer which is topped by a slightly dense and rocky finger and a half of cream colored head which fades slowly to a collar around the edge of the glass with minimal lacing.
S: Smells of faded citrusy, piney, and earthy hops with some caramel and toasted malts. I'm not picking up any sherry on this one.
T: Taste is sweet up front with some brown sugar and caramel, light citrus rind, pine oil and some slight earthy notes. maybe a hint of oak and a touch of fruit perhaps from the sherry. On the swallow there's a hint of raisin and dark fruits with earthy hops, pine oil, caramel, and lingering brown sugar sweetness
M: This beer has a body that's in the middle of the road. It's slightly creamy on the palate but the carbonation is a little too active for it to be super smooth. the beer isn't overly carbonated though. The finish on the beer is oily from the hops initially and then it goes semi-dry.
O: Overall this is an interesting beer. The flavors and complexity are there but I feel it scores better as a barleywine than an imperial red ale.

A nice amber but very limited head and almost no lacing. Strong aroma that reminded me of a barley wine, more than an IPA. Pretty tasty, still had a bit of the barley wine thing working but very tasty, malty. Sweet but not cloying, low bitterness which is nice, don't really notice the high ABV at all. Nice offering.

 

 

 

 

 

A deep amber with a little cap of light tan head. It is slightly creamy and leaves rings of small sticky lacing. The aroma is sweet and citrusy. The taste is much the same with some distinct orange qualities on the finish. It is medium bodied, mostly smooth with just a faint hint of carbonation.

 

Poured half of a bomber into an old Redhook "Visit Your Beer" shaker pint glass. A thick off-white head forms atop a mostly clear, orange-amber liquid. Retention is good. Hop aroma is restrained, as you might expect from a barrel-aged IPA. Rich malts dominate but still allow room for herbal plumes and boozy coconut notes. Palate is big and chewy without being syrupy and features robust, mouth-filling caramel malts and a strong hop presence to keep things in balance. Unlike the big whiskey notes of most barrel-aged brews, the sherry barrels used here impart more subtle wine-like flavors that are most pronounced in the finish. I expected a little more complexity in a beer this big, but the aging effectively masks the high alcohol and mellows things out nicely. If you're willing to forego the aromatic pleasures usually associated with big DIPAs, Erudite Crawfish delivers intense yet nuanced flavors you won't find anywhere else. At 10% ABV, this is one to share.