The Yambag - Bourbon Barrel-Aged
Mad Fox Brewing Company

 

On draft at mad fox, pours a pitch black color with a full light brown head that never goes away and places the glass.

The nose is sweet bourbon, vanilla, bitter cocoa, spice, a little vegetal, but the barrel is really present. The flavor is alcohol, moderately sweet, vanilla, sweet caramel, cinnamon, bourbon, roasted oats. Very good, balanced. Great barrel treatment.

On tap:
Pours a dark brown, and the pour I had had about a ginger if head. The head lasts throughout the pour, tan and lacing the glass slightly. Aroma is brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla. Perhaps it's the light bourbon that also makes me think of maple syrup. Strength is medium, increasing as it warms. The bourbon is noticeable across the sniff.

The taste is an earthy version of the nose, in fact maybe just slightly too much. The cinnamon, a hint of the bourbon on the oak, and what I guess are the yams come through, but the sweetness is left behind more than I'd like. The body is medium, feel is semi-dry, but it doesn't really pull on th mouth too much.

A very good beer. Funny I sort of liked the taste more and nose less when the beer was cold.

Aged in Bulleit barrels. Very nice and drinkable thanks to an ABV that isn't super high. The cinnamon and yams provide a good sweetness without being cloying. First beer I have tried with yams in it and I approve. Highly recommended.