Warehouse Experiment #2: Barrel-aged IPA
Country Boy Brewing

 

 

 

It amazes me how The Country Boys can extract so much fruity hop out of an aged beer. This drinks with a ton of coconut and bourbon but is complemented by a burst of citrus. I get tangerines, oranges, nectarines and grapefruit. Light sweetness with a dash of sour this hides all of the 11%.

Need a pick-me-up? No, not with coffee or caffein, or any strenuous exercise- I mean from a powerful jolt of flavor like what the Country Boys have recently devised. Their Warehouse Experiment will perk you right up!

With an austere of honey-gold and mostly clear, its short-statured head gives the zesty and creamy character of reisling, but the sharply piquant hop aroma that's abundant with citrus, tropical, orchard fruit varieties and a bursting alcohol tinge that will make you consider locking in your beer drinking hubs before plowing right in.

Its juicy taste of pink grapefruit, lemon, gooseberry, nectarine, orange, pineapple, juniper, lemon and passionfruit seem to represent all of what's fruity in hop flavors. Even its residual sweetness provide the sweetness of branch-ripened fruit, reinvigorating with fructose, honey and plump juices. However, the beer's boozy jolt slices through the fruitiness and brings its own tinny and alkaline character, allowing for a bitter, peppery and acetone-laden burn.

Despite its big body, the IPA never seems full. Its medium weight is accentuated with a malt substrate that trends dry and an alcohol character to acts to thin the fleeting sweetness. Pepper, wood and strong mineral character scrubs the lasting sweetness from the palate and evokes a return visit to the glass much sooner than an 11% ale should.