Bearded Nurse Ardbeg Barrel Aged
Weird Beard Brew Co.

Bottled and possibly bottle conditioned
Weird Beard's Ardbeg barrel aged Bearded Nurse
Oakey, smokey & rather medicinal tasting is that where the Nurse name came from???

Rusty orange with a small, ivory head. Big peat smoke aroma, which isn't really for me – it always seems to come across as burning rubber in beers – but at least this is a bit better integrated than similar beers I've tried, with whisky-ish apricot, honey, vanilla, leather, toffee, and autumn leaf notes from the malts and hops.

Tastes smooth yet rambunctious, with lots of big flavors neatly tied together, hovering on a cloud of whisky vapor. Peat smoke, caramel, pear, honey, orange-cinnamon, vanilla... it's like a Highland whisky, in beer form. The rolling, nitro-esque carbonation and viscous body smooth this out almost to the point of dangerousness. It's a near-perfect expression of lovely whisky flavors in a slightly more drinkable format. Excellent.

Possible food pairings: haggis, Chinese dumplings, rich south Asian meat curries, salmon/trout, pate.