Barrel Aged Burn The Witch
Tapistry Brewing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 2/11/2015. Pours fairly crystal clear dark reddish brown color with a 1-2 finger dense khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big raisin, plum, fig, date, banana, clove, caramel, molasses, toffee, red wine, toasted oak, leather, light chocolate, light vanilla, and yeast/oaky earthiness. Damn nice aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/bready malt, fruity/spicy yeast, and wine barrel notes; with good strength. Taste of big raisin, plum, fig, date, banana, clove, caramel, molasses, toffee, red wine, toasted oak, leather, light chocolate, light vanilla, and yeast/oaky earthiness. Fair amount of yeast spiciness and light tannic oak tartness/bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of raisin, plum, fig, date, banana, clove, caramel, molasses, toffee, red wine, toasted oak, leather, light chocolate, and yeast/oaky earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity and robustness of dark/bready malt, fruity/spicy yeast, and wine barrel flavors; with an awesome malt/yeast/barrel balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a smooth, moderately creamy, and lightly slick/bready mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a small warmth lingering after the finish. Overall this is an awesome barrel aged weizenbock. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, fruity/spicy yeast, and wine barrel flavors; and very smooth to sip on for the big ABV. A highly enjoyable offering.

22 ounce bottle into a Pilsener glass.

Pours dark, thick looking. Deep brown with a garnet tinge to it. Medium foamy head, some lacing. Smell is a big shot of peppercorns at the pour, which fades as it warms. Good amount of malt, some oak, caramel, hints of wine. Whoa, bacon? Nah, probably me, not the beer. Taste is pretty malt heavy, as it should be for the style. Also getting caramel, oak, wine, molasses, raisins, touch of vanilla. Pretty delicious stuff. Smooth, full bodied, a real tongue coater.

This is a shockingly good beer. My only complaint is that I don't have another bottle. Flavors are well blended, complex and definitely influenced by the barrel aging. Big effort by Tapistry.

Not sure what I had was the "barrel aged" version or not. Says aged in some different barrels, but not titled as Barrel Aged Burn the Witch. The abv matches this so I'll go with this. Waxed bottle.

Really very nice representation. Best I've had from these guys so far.