Neckbeard Life (2021)
Transient Artisan Ales

This is a cuvée of a BBA maple syrup barrel (BLiS) aged stout blended with a rye whiskey barrel aged barleywine.
The pour was stout black, so I expected more stout presence than barleywine, but it was pretty well balanced. The stout aspect was a bit sweet due to the maple syrup and bourbon yet subdued and made to play well with the barleywine, which lost all aspect of the rye whiskey barrel, much to my chagrin.
Still, it provides a counter to the sweet stout without dominating it. Nicely done.
The feel is viscous, at 13% one should probably sip this, and I did.
OA, they haven’t brewed this since ‘21 but I think they just put out a notice on Instagram that they are releasing a fresh batch this year. Annoyingly I can’t afford them anymore, or rather I refuse to pay what they are selling them for now. But that’s me. Darned good beer, glad to have tried it.

500 ml bottle into a snifter. Had 6/17/22.

Pours an opaque, dark brown with no head and no lacing. Aromas of malt, rye whiskey, brown sugar, oak, some chocolate, light maple. Has a fairly spicy aroma. Flavors of rye whiskey, malt, some oak, some caramel and brown sugar, light chocolate, faint maple. Also has a fairly spicy flavor. Smooth, a very good full body, appropriately carbonated but a tiny bit fizzy.

Best fully warmed, it really opens up. The rye barrels show well, so good and spicy. The maple bourbon barrels were barely noticeable. Another solid effort in this series.

A - Pours a deep brown with a fizzy tan head.

S - Aroma is raisins, vanilla,chocolate and bourbon.

T - The taste is chocolate, raisins, plums, maple, vanilla, bourbon barrel and some rye spicniness.

M - Medium body with medium carbonation. Syrupy mouth with crisp drying finish.

O - Another solid Neckbeard Life variant.

This is easily the best neckbeard life vintage yet. Usually they are diabetic nightmares, but this one has found a semblance of balance, though certainly still a dessert barleywine blend that pushes the envelope. Very dark matte brown with a tan cap. Rye, barley and oak set the stage for maple and more barrel, date, grape, burnt caramel and a finishing sweetened barley. Nose is amalgamation of the taste, not as complex as a result. Feel is still sweeter and thicker, but the barrel head and rye really help break down any cloying. The wife liked it