St. Augustine
River's Edge Brewing Co

 

22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 9/5/2018. Pours fairly hazy very dark ruby red/brown color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to as thin cap that lingers. Nice spotty foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, butternut squash, cranberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, spicy rye, and brown bread; with lighter notes of molasses, licorice, cocoa, raisin, plum, fig, date, apricot, red apple, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness. Slight booze in the aromas as it warms, but not overwhelming. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/bready/rye malts, sugar, fruit, spices, fruity yeast, and bourbon barrel notes; with great strength. Taste of huge caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, butternut squash, cranberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, spicy rye, and brown bread; with lighter notes of molasses, licorice, cocoa, raisin, plum, fig, date, apricot, red apple, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate herbal, floral, grassy, spice bitterness; rye, bourbon, oak tannin spiciness; and slight fruit tang/tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, butternut squash, cranberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, spicy rye, brown bread, molasses, licorice, cocoa, dark fruit, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/rye malts, sugar, fruit, spices, fruity yeast, and bourbon barrel flavors; with a great malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and no cloying flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitter/spiciness and carbonation. Medium-plus carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/silky/bready, fairly sticky/tannic, and lightly tangy balanced mouthfeel that is great. Mild increasing warmth of 10.3%, with no barrel booze lingering after the finish. Overall this is an awesome fruit/spiced English rye strong ale. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/rye malts, sugar, fruit, spices, fruity yeast, and bourbon barrel flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for the big ABV, with the mellowly bitter/spicy/tannic/drying finish. Awesome balance of rich malts, sugar, fruits, spices, yeast, and bourbon barrel presence/integration. Not overwhelming on any aspect. A really enjoyable offering, and impressive style example as expected.