Ralphius - Two Year Heaven Hill
Free Will Brewing Co.

 

 

Sampling a cellar temp 500 ml bottle poured into my snifter. Ive had the beer for about a 10 months since obtaining in a trade. My bottle says 14.7% ABV not the 15.8% listed here.
The beer pours a dark coffee brown color with dense creamy .5 cm head foaming up. This foam fades to nothing a few minutes into the sampling.
Aroma on the beer is heavy with bourbon and hot fusol notes. Black pepper bite, fudge brownie and hints of vanilla mix into the nose as well. No hints of any hops on this beer. Smells like a big barrel aged stout. I like it!
First sip reveals a medium to thick body with sticky mouthfeel. When I take a sip I get a warmth in my nasal passages, definitely doesnt hide the booze!
Beer coats my palate and leaves sticky notes on my lips. Carbonation is spacious and soft.
Flavor is some fudge brownie dark chocolate, a good dose of rich bourbon some brown sugar and vanilla too. A bit more sweetness than I anticipated, but not cloying or candylike.
The beer is definitely big and I am enjoying sipping it over the past 90 minutes or so. Gonna finish it up and get off the computer. Another winner from Free Will and their Ralphius variants.....watched Loki tonight, so variants is funny!

2022 vintage; consumed on 5/2/2023

Pours a viscous, midnight-black body capped with two fingers of fluffy, lighter mocha-hued foam; solid head retention leaves a thin, creamy layer of cap, large, creamy collar, and minimal-no lacing holding to the walls of the glass.

Aromas of German chocolate cake sport black cherry esters as sweeter barrel undertones take hold, phasing to subtle char and deft caramel subtext over time.

Taste features milk chocolate undertones upfront, with silky caramel and sweet cola preceding distant smoke as black cherry saturates barrel tannins over the mid-palate; prickly oak meets lingering, charry vanillins through the back end as black raspberry syrup fades through the finish.

Mouthfeel offers a medium body and a subtle prickle of moderate-low carbonation; creamy textures dissipate through a quick char and evolving barrel tannins structure, leaving subtle roast to counterbalance a silky, semi-sticky close.

Intensive sweetness tempered with balanced barrel tannins show a rich base elevated by bourbon nuance, undeterred and effusive in display of dark fruits, cocoa variance, and compounding roast layered across the profile.

2022 release 14.7%

This is great, not sure I prefer it to regular Ralphius though. The whiskey is definitely more potent and this is somehow sweeter too. Up front it's the beer I know and love, chocolate cake batter and dark chocolate plus plenty of caramel. The finish adds intense sweet booze, prickly oak, and a little vanilla.

Edit- enjoying 2023 release 14.7% ABV on 11/27/23 at cellar temperature. Going by my notes above this isn't as sweet as last year's. Still getting lots of intense dark chocolate and some caramel. The bourbon is strong but so smooth, this is one to sip slow. Hints of vanilla, oak, leather, and burned raisin as well. The body is oily and still, great legs on this one. Phenomenal overall.

2022 Edition - 14.7% ABV

More head than anticipated, though it thins out pretty quick. Not a whole lot to say; it looks the part. (I just looked and this is almost word-for-word what I wrote about the coffee variant) Has some alcohol legs if you swirl it about. Wow, that nose is intense. This spent two years in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels and it shows. Boo-Zee. But not unpleasantly so. The base beer comes through pretty strong as well. It's a sweet, deep-roasted imperial stout monster. Smells really good, if a bit over-the-top. Tastes exactly like what it is. No surprises. Very bourbon-forward but it doesn't burn or sting. There's a nice vanilla note on the finish. Sweet, but the alcohol is doing a decent job of masking it. You feel it on your smacking lips, though. Thicker mouthfeel, cut with a barrel-born oiliness. Should be fun to see how this one evolves as it warms over the next hour or two. Getting the feeling like it might become an annual purchase; Free Will sure has a nice barrel-aging program.

Later thoughts: Nah; definitely too sweet. Undeniably tasty, but damn.

Pours black with a thin dark mocha head the quickly dissipates into a modest crown. No real lacing.

Vanilla, caramel and chocolate brownie show most in the nose. Sweet with a hint of darkness beneath.

Decadent tasting. Vanilla, caramel and chocolate up front again without being intensely sweet. Dark fruit and just a hint of char behind. A distant nuttiness. Peppery enough that I might have pegged it for rye barrel aged if tasted blind. Strong alcohol heat in the finish for balance.

Full, sticky, borderline chewy mouthfeel. Light carbonation.

Another delicious beer in one of my favorite beer series ever. Fans of the the candy bar beers may enjoy this one better than others, but there’s still a little of that original Ralphius rawness lurking beneath.

2021 release, 375 capped bottle

pours jet black like motor oil, thick tan colored head that fades. huge aroma of dark caramel, vanilla, oak, touch of cinnamon and citrus. similarly complex flavor, bit of a boozy hot finish, slightly sweet. thick, lusciously smooth mouthfeel. overall it's outstanding