Barrel Aged Smokin' Banjo
Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project

heres a weird one for ya! one of the more intriguing beers i have had this year, thats for sure. they take their base cream ale, brew it up with smoked paprika, and then age it in a local whiskey barrel. i think its rad they have used such a strange ingredient with the paprika, i dont recall ever seeing that in a beer. its well integrated, subtle in the nose and highly compatible with the oak and char of the barrel, really successful use of this. i just have a hard time believing the paprika has added this much soke to the beer, its definitely heavily smokey, more than i would think could come from the spice, like there has to be some smoked malt added to the base beer, although i have not had the original angry banjo myself, i dont believe it to be a smoked cream ale (although that sounds delicious to me). there isnt a ton of whiskey on this, which is smart given its lighter body and low alcohol, i think its cool to use a barrel on a lighter beer like this, and it really works. neat smoke layers, subtle capsicum from the paprika, maple and caramel from the whiskey, yet still relatively crisp like a cream ale should be, all this action doesnt take that away. quite obviously done as an experiment, but it tastes so refined and understood. i was impressed with all the beers here, but none more than this! get some while you can!