Bourbon Barrel Aged Winter Wheat Wine
Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company

 

Neshaminy Creek Brewing Co. "Bourbon Barrel Aged Winter Wheat Wine"
1 Pint 6 oz. brown glass bottle, capped & waxed, with no apparent freshness dating
$18 @ the brewery

Notes via stream of consciousness: Just for the record I hate waxed caps, they're usually a lot of effort, or at least some extra effort, and then sometimes I get wax into the beer, which sucks. Also, I don't usually age beer so it's not necessary. Moving on, it's darker than I thought it would be but it looks great. It's a mostly clear, deep ruby-crimson accented chestnut brown beneath a short but creamy head of slightly yellowed khaki colored foam. The head has dropped while I was writing that so the head retention is obviously not that good, even with what I'm assuming is either all-wheat or very close to it. We'll see if it improves with the second pour, and how the lacing is. In the nose the Bourbon comes through clearly. It's malty, sweetish and cereal-like, not quite like wheat directly, and just a bit caramelish. I'm finding just a hint of oak. It could be a bigger aroma, perhaps, but then again that might be too much. I'm going to call it almost perfect with a very nice balance between the malt and the Bourbon barrel. On to the flavor... mmmmmmm, damn this is good! It's exactly what the aroma suggests: malty with cereal grain, bread, caramel and toffee, lightly sweet Bourbon and brown sugar, a hint of fruitiness from the yeast, and some drying oak with just a hint of alcohol that helps its moderate bitterness to balance it and finish mostly dry with some residual sweet malt lingering. WOW! This is definitely a beer that you want to sip at but I'm drinking it way too fast. That's because it's like what I said about the aroma, it's perfectly balanced for drinkability. It could be more intense with Bourbon, which I think would throw it off, or more oaky, which might work, or even more caramelish - whichever way you want to go, it could be more intense, I've had versions like that - but geez this is really nicely balanced and rounded. Its supple medium and dextrinous body and moderate carbonation only helps to bolster that, and that explains a bit of the lack of head retention, and now-noted lack of lacing. I think it's a fairly good trade off for smoothness but I will still question whether or not it should have just a little bit more carbonation. Still, this is an absolutely killer beer. I'm sorry i didn't come across it during winter (it's spring now) because I could have warmed up with quite a few of these! I could kick myself now because I should have bought at least 6 more bottles, if not a full case, and that brings me back to the waxed cap - I'm not sure how this will age, it's already so supple that I can't imagine it improving by smoothing out because it's already there. Nor do I think the carbonation will increase, I haven't gotten to the bottom of the bottle to see if it's bottle-conditioned but I doubt it, and with strong beers there's no guarantee anyway, but this one is special and I'd certainly love to cellar some just to have around for when I'm in the mood. Absolutely worth seeking out!
Review# 5,945 3.75/4.5/4.5/4.25/4.25 = 4.38

Many thanks to Knapp85 for this bottle.

A - Dark ruby red colored pour with super thin lacing and very thin to no carbonation.

S - Dark maple, boozy, sticky sweet molasses.

T - Dark maple, boozy, brown sugar, light molasses.

M - Full bodied and silky.

O - This beer is grossly underrated on here.

Poured out much darker than expected. Deep reddish hue to it with a tan head that settles into a small ring around the edge of the glass. The smell of the beer is of bourbon oak and some sweet malt. The taste of the beer has a touch of maple and caramel with a spicy note in the finish. The feel is medium bodied with a creamy spiced finish. Overall it's a damn fine beer.

 

Plum brown with almost no head (boss pour at brew pub).

Creamy aroma of vanilla bourbon, raisin and fig.

Lighter tasting, but with the same flavor profile as the nose. Slight alcohol burn on the backend. Modest earthy hop bitterness prevents it from being overly sweet -- although the sweetness does grow towards the bottom of the glass.

Light bodied with a moderately creamy feel. Good stuff overall.