Redwood Wine Barrel Aged Ale (2016)
Tree Brewing Co.

750ml, weird Champagne-esque shaped bottle, the 2016 edition (a stout, FWIW). So, a red wine barrel aged brew that still comes in at 5% ABV? How very Tree, Big Rock, Granville - you get the idea.

This beer pours a solid black abyss, with scant amber basal edges, and four fingers of puffy, rocky, and chunky beige head, which leaves some decent high-flying webbed lace around around the glass as it very slowly seeps away.

It smells of lightly roasted, and slightly meaty caramel malt, bittersweet cocoa powder, gently sour red wine-soaked and vanilla-forward barrel staves, a further free-range ashiness, mild dark orchard fruity notes, and some very plain earthy, weedy, and floral green hop bitters. The taste is toasted and bready caramel malt, more medium dark chocolate wafers, a bit of black licorice candy character, muted and thinned-out red vinous essences (watery grapes, more than anything), and a still very tame earthy, musty, and dead floral 'verdant' hoppiness.

The carbonation is adequate in its basic, structurally supportive frothiness, the body a so-so medium weight, and more or less smooth, nothing really taking the piss here, as such. It finishes trending dry, the cocoa, red wine, and fading malt making for a swell after party.

Overall, this is a pleasant enough Canadian red wine barrel aged stout (not words that I ever imagined I would be typing, just sayin'), easy-drinking, and yes, with an ABV that makes this actually 'sessionable'. Good on Tree for continuing to cross-promote local and awesome Okanagan products.