Vanilla Rye Barrel Constrictor
Alpha Acid Brewing Co.

 

 

 

375ml bottle sealed with gold wax and a pressure cap.

bottle date: Feb 2017.

poured into Speigelau snifter.

Appearance: light to medium black body. A thick medium tan colored head that stacks up 3 fingers high. Decent head retention. The head drops down leaving a light spotty lacing and only a thin ring remains around the outside of the glass.

Smell: Hints of semi sweet bakers chocolate, roast malt, rye, bourbon, and dry oak. There is alot of vanilla here in the nose. The rye character is extremely clean and lightly spicy. I could smell this all day.

Taste: This is a rich dessert stout all the way. So much decadent vanilla flavor that tastes pretty close to authentic vanilla. Hint of semi-sweet bakers cocoa and light roasty malt profile. Finish has lots of vanilla sweetness, dry oak tannin's, and rye whiskey. The rye helps balance the sweetness with a lightly bitter lingering aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied beer. Low yet adequate carbonation levels. This beer does coat the mouth with a lot of rich vanilla and barrel flavors, but does not quite achieve motor oil status. You get a fairly slight booze bite as well.

Overall: This is my first beer from Alpha Acid Brewing Co. and I am impressed. Pretty tasty barrel aged adjunct stout here. It is very rich and it is definitely a sipper. It really is a vanilla bomb and the rye whiskey helps make this stout really tasty. If there was no rye in this beer the vanilla would most likely be over the top and possibly even too much sweetness. The label art work is pretty fantastic...naked lady with a python wrapped around her. Classic label art, can't go wrong with that image. I only wish that the python would not have covered the naked ladies boobs.

didn't try it on tap but cracking this at home. gold wax, doesn't specify rye but it is ba vanilla. realeased today! 400 bottles 1 per person

375 with great label into a perfect stout glass

looks fantastic! big and sludgy with a small mocha head. completely dark

aroma is a punch in the teeth with vanilla! it's actually close to my memory of FO. roastiness in the back and some booze

taste is roast and vanilla, followed by bourbon and finishes with a vanilla extract alch type burn. very flavorful

mouthfeel is medium thick, well carbed. some alch burn in the finish but not over the top for 13%

overall this beer was very enjoyable! it's nice to see these local guys butting out high caliber beer. a few months to cool down the heat and vanilla and this guy will be stellar. it's a bit on the expensive side at $14 for a 375 which kinda takes away from it, but nonetheless enjoyable

Gold-waxed bottle from release. L: Motor oil sludge. S: Initial big waft of vanilla, some dark malt, slight hint of whiskey, chocolate. T: Definitely a rye whiskey barrel presence at the beginning and end of the sip. Dark fruits, touch of vanilla. It was a bit muddled and watery though, nothing really stood out to me - at first. As I drank through the bottle, vanilla became more pronounced, got a good heap of chocolate, roasted and slightly botter malts. It was good. F: Thin and watery at first, then medium bodied. Overall: This thing had potential for sure. I think these guys can improve upon this with a thicker mouthfeel, and maybe crank up the flavor a bit.