Chapter 5: Unholy Ally
Woodland Empire Ale Craft

Draft at Woodland. Murky, dark copper, head fades. Aroma and taste offer raisins and prunes, light woody notes. Sweet with a bit of warmth. Full bodied, smooth. Nice.

 

Look - a rich dark brown with a reddish hue - 2 finger head with a decent frothy head - dissipated fairly quickly but nice lacing and foam ring kept on rolling

Smell - sharp alcohol bite - smells really boozy - some Belgian yeast and caramel - somewhat spicy

Taste - another sharp bite of booze comes in at first (this must be the booze drawn from the Bourbon Barrel) but then some nice Belgian spice and other characters come through - some caramelly / malty richness comes through as it sweetens up a bit - starts to dry out at the end and some more Belgian spice and yeast fade in..... then out

Feel - not as full bodied as I had hoped for - seemed a bit thin, but maybe barrel aging changed the overall structure of this one

Overall - a good drinking Belgian Quad - packs quite a punch at 10% - nice spice and yeast flavors - decent balance - maybe aging this one awhile longer would help that 'HOT' bite of alcohol out a bit. Grabbed this one from Tavour (don't get many Idaho brews in Colorado).

16 oz can.....a bit sharp for a quad, but maybe that would be expected from a new world version.
Lots of flavors, but nothing subtle about it. As always, great props to American craft brewers for
taking a shot at Belgian styles. Thanks Tavour for helping get this Idaho beer to Nevada.