Democratically Challenged
Refined Fool Brewing Co.

 

750 mL bottle picked up fresh from the brewery; listed at 75 IBUs and initially served lightly chilled. I have very little experience in the area of barleywines, so I'm a bit ambivalent about this one.

Pours a brilliant crimson-copper colour; mostly clear in complexion, and topped off with one finger of frothy, light beige-coloured head. It sticks around for a respectably long time - five minutes or so, by my estimates - but soon fades thereafter, leaving behind a soapy collar and some messy lacing. The aroma includes a lot of 'wet pine forest' vibes - somewhat earthy and resiny; maybe some herbal notes here and there. Grapefruit pith and dark fruits also come to mind - while underlying it all there remains a sturdy backbone of toffee sweetness and bready, biscuity malts. Mildly boozy, and pretty enticing overall. This candidate is definitely starting the campaign (to win me over) off quite strongly.

I liked this one from the first sip - as with most politicians, there's not a lot of depth here, but it's a beer that knows how to appeal to a crowd. It tastes rather malt-forward initially, with flavours of caramelized sugar and toffee accompanied by biscuity, bready malts and notes of dried plum and apricot. Nearer the finish, the hops manage to take the wheel, offering up bitter notes of resiny pine, earthy bark and a pithy, indistinct citrus flavour. A mild resiny bitterness lingers on the palate well into the aftertaste, long outlasting the brief flash of boozy sweetness that immediately follows each sip. Medium-full in body, with weak carbonation levels that meekly agitate the palate. Very smooth-drinking, leaving a slippery/oily feel behind on the tongue.

Final Grade: 3.77, a solid B+. Democratically Challenged is a beer that has no business being as extremely smooth and dangerously drinkable as it is. If handed a glass of this blindfolded, there is no way in hell I would guess it to be 10%. It does have a slightly noticeable warming effect, but this blends in with the hoppy background noise so beautifully that you just might miss it entirely - until halfway into your glass, that is. At 10 bucks a pop this stuff ain't cheap, but I'll probably grab at least one more bottle and save it for the summer. A very encouraging beer from the local brewery, as the quality of these continued seasonals and one-off releases certainly seems to be on an upward trend.