Virgil (2023)
South County Brewing Co.

2024 vintage. Pours a deeply opaque brown with only a trace of reddish brown around the limb. Foam is minimal and khaki. Smell is full of dark fruit, plums & raisins, over a malty background with a little holiday spice. Taste starts with a powerful fruity and malty sweetness. The ABV provides some balance starting in the middle. Mouthfeel is viscous and smooth, with the alcohol keeping it from being cloying. Overall, this is an excellent dessert wine in a beer bottle. The only negative is that the smell suggests more complexity than taste delivers.

 

Pried off the wax-coated cap and gave it a gentlemanly pour into small sampler snifter... mostly opaque (but more little translucent at the end) raven with a unique, modest, slow-building brown bubbly capper, receding to a gurgle encircling the pour line.... Nose struck me of plums immediately, then other nuances make the parade - dessert spices, little whiff of barrel, very appealing balance of aromas... taste is pungent and surprisingly a bit on the sweet side, but the bitter quality of a RUS IS starts to assert itself ... Enters in quite tangy on the tongue, swallow feels slick and syrupy, warms the tummy as it settles in... following sips are really summoning up the spirits that dwell within, burns the tongue - no way i'm gonna kick this bottle myself tonight.

Also turns out, these guys are nestled right here in my own home county (i only just now learned) so i'd tout this one as worth a go.

Bottle from the breery into pint glass Pours a very smooth dark brown with ruby highlights. Light tan head. Minimal lacing. Initial impression is chocolate, bourbon and roasted malts. Mouthfeel is thick, smooth and silky. Finish fades to lingering chocolate amd dark fruits. Overall, an excellent Imperial Stout.