Barrel Aged First Timer
Nedloh Brewing Company

This beer was served on tap at Nedloh Brewing Company’s taproom in Bloomfield, New York. Arriving in a flared tasting glass, it showed a brighter straw yellow coloring, with a heavy haziness to it. No sediment was noted. A half finger’s worth of a head stood atop the liquid in a quickly fizzling white column. Chipped canyons of lacing were left around the glass. Carbonation appeared to be active. The aroma was crisp and malty, with toasty crystal and pale malts, the obvious Belgian yeast’s savory dustiness, synthetic lemon wipes, soft mossy oakiness, black pepper, red wine grape tartness, aspirin, chrome, rosewater, mineral, confectioner’s sugar, distant herbal hops, wet straw, Barbasol, and both brown and green grassiness. The flavoring gave pale malt toast, surprisingly smoky woodiness of oak, warmth of black pepper, cinnamon, and sarsaparilla spiciness, freshly mowed grass, questionable lemony and herbal hoppiness, sugary lime soda, candied lemon rind slivers, Chinese restaurant after-dinner mint chalkiness, more white wine grapey bite than red, apple cider vinegar, and that savory metallic yeastiness. The body was lightly medium, and the carbonation was medium to high. Slurp, smack, cream, froth, and pop were all decently appropriate, while the mouth was left cooled but dried with tannic warmth. The abv was within limits, and the beer drank back somewhere close to a sipper.

Overall, this was a “cool” beer, for lack of a better notion. They take this light Belgian base ale that can’t really decide if it is a Belgian pale or a saison, and toss it between American and French oak, which imparts robust and varied aromas and flavors. You get the range from spice to warmth to smokiness. You get suggestions of the wood’s grapes, and they contribute subtly, rather than compete. Everything about it is just interesting and intriguing, but it didn’t scream its uniqueness from the top of its lungs. Again, it just kept things subtle. This was certainly a memorable beer, but given their vast array and variety of style, we likely would chase after something else than sit down and sip more than one of these.