Double Z Barrel-aged
Lost Rhino Brewing Company

Bottle:
Have enjoyed LR's barrel series (including sours), but this one was weird... luckily in a good way.

Pours like many a DIPA, a burnt orangeboday with a little haze. White to just off-white head is actively being replenished in my nucleated glass.

Nose initially gets a caramelly sweet bourbon barrel beer. The malts add to the caramel while the bourbon barrel lingers. There's a little odd note in there that I now realize is likely the Brett. The lightly tart note is an accent more than a key component of the nose early. With warmth, I begin to notice it more and more, and it becomes more funky than tart.

Flavor starts off with a bourbon-laced sweet maltiness. The underlying malt taste reminds me of some higher ABV malty IPAs, the bourbon adds a little vanilla sweetness. The Brett notes follow pretty quickly, though, turning the beer into more of a tart juicy IPA. It doesn't get close to hoppy sour range, though, which works for me. Feel give me a decent body while being slightly more bubbly than normal than a normal DIPA. The flavors do a little dance in the middle, and meld quite well by the end: caramel, sour pear, lemon zest, vanilla, bourbon barrel. Near the end of the glass, with near-room temps, a little piney bitterness came out.

I get a little funk, a little wood, but really a nice bourbon barrel strong ale. Bitterness is lost, though, so maybe the brewery's claim of DIPA is misplaced once the barrel and yeast are added. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the base, but they also call it a "strong ale" - a style I think better fits this beer.

 

 

 

Unique combination of Brett and bourbon. Very tasty. It's a bit out of the ordinary for Most Rhino but worth the $12 a bottle to try out once. I think they did a good job of combining an IPA with barrel aging - which isn't always easy.