Horchata Brown Ale Bourbon Barrel Aged
Braxton Brewing Company - Braxton Covington

Imperial Brown Ale with vanilla beans and cinnamon and aged in Bourbon barrels. Collaboration with Party Source (Bellevue, KY). Poured from a pint can into a MadTree Teku. The pour is dark mahogany, not too viscous, and sports an impressive head for a barrel-aged beer. It's 2 fingers of light tan fine foam with good retention. Lots of cinnamon on the nose. Mixed with the toasted malt, it smells like cinnamon toast fresh from the toaster. I also get hints of vanilla and toasted oak.

Full body with a rather thin feel, but a rich, spicey flavor. Up front the flavor is an interesting meld of sweet and spice with bready, toffee-like notes of toasted malt offset by a fair amount of cinnamon - just like a hot, gooey cinnamon roll. At mid-palate, I get a little vanilla and bourbon, which adds some rich, warming booziness to the palate. As the beer warms, the vanilla and bourbon come forward a bit, but the cinammon is still very prominent. Finishes with lingering flavors of cinnamon, toasted oak, and bourbon.

I tried this one at Braxton Labs (in the back of Party Source) as well as a variant of it aged in a different kind of barrel (port? brandy? rum? I don't remember). This is the one I preferred (the other was a little too rich for my enjoyment). I really like it, but I think there is a bit too much cinnamon in it. I'd like to taste a little less cinnamon and a little more malt. Other than that, no complaints whatsoever.

From the brewer:
Starting with an imperial brown ale base, this horchata-inspired ale was brewed with flaked rice and lactose sugar to bring a creamy mouthfeel. Extensive barrel aging in specialty bourbon barrels provided by our friends at The Party Source bumps the ABV a bit and adds an oaky complexity. Finishing on vanilla beans and cinnamon rounds out this lovely brown ale, truly making it reminiscent of the classic mexican drink, horchata de arroz.