Barrel Aged Foreshadowing
Fiction Beer Company

fiction continues to be one of the most underrated operations in colorado, the beers have gotten awesome and ambitious, and you still see and hear so little about them. this is a killer english barleywine, barrel aged, i believe in local barrels from laws. its great stuff, huge and complex and exactly the kind of strong ale i like to drink this time of year. i didnt know these guys were doing anything like this at all, i was stoked to stumble into it! deep caramel color, sweet aroma, obviously long boiled, with a lot in the nose from the barrels, some char, some honey, some vanilla, some toffee, and a dense woodiness thats gorgeous with the caramelized english malts. when i drink it, i am surprised its not more obviously sweet, sure there is some middle malt sugars going on, but this isnt diabetic at all, and even has some balancing bitterness later on from the wood and even some hops. i also love the presence of the robust english yeast strain, adds some cool complexity before the barrel, and gives a nice bit of bready depth to this, i generally prefer english over american barleywine for this reason, and its well done here, the fermentation profile is old worldy, wintery, and fits this beer perfectly. nuances of dried apple, vanilla bean, straw and hay, maple syrup on oatmeal, and sticky bread pudding. its delicious and complex, and the whiskey really is robust on it, especially in the finish. smooth and mellow feeling, warming but not more than it should be, and light on the carbonation, which i think is fine for this style. a great success overall here, really strong example of the style. bravo!