Armer Ritter - 2017
Territorial Brewing Company

This is definitely the most complex beer that I've ever had the occasion to drink. Being that it's a 3-year old beer from my cellar and from a small brewery (released Jan. 2017 with 213 bottles), I don't think there is the liklihood that anyone reading this review would be able to easily acquire the beer in a trade, but for anyone who has the beer in the cellar, now is an opportune time to drink it.

This beer is so complex that every sip was a different experience. It started out sweet (I should have read the label because it says this is a dessert beer), but strangely it seemed less so as the beer warmed. The review below this one describes many of the tastes that I experienced, so I won't repeat them here. But what was so surprising to me was that the strongest taste characteristic that I detected was tart cheeries, and then later as the beer warmed it was sweet cheeries along with the vanilla. At one point I thought I was sipping cherry-flavored brandy (the 17.8% abv provided just a tiny bit of 'heat' in some sips). The bottle's label gave no indication that cherries were used in the brewing/aging process, only vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks and chestnut chips as flavoring ingredients for this Weisen Trippelbock. (I asked the brewer later if cherries were used, and he said no.) The beer finishes with a moderate taste of dark fruits. This is just an outstanding beer!

750 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 1/25/2017. Bottle #84/213. Pours nearly opaque dark ruby red/brown color with a small fairly dense and fluffy head with poor retention, that reduces to nothing pretty quickly. No glass lacing, and a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big caramel, brown sugar, toffee, maple syrup, raisin, plum, prune, cherry, fig, date, apricot, red apple, red grape/wine, banana, bubblegum, vanilla, cinnamon, bourbon, toasted oak, roasted nuts, and dark/brown bread/crust; with lighter notes of coconut, cocoa, roast, peppercorn, clove, licorice, molasses, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Minimal booze in the aromas as it warms. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/bready/light roasted malts, maple syrup, spices, fruity/light spicy yeast, bourbon barrels, and light earthy hop notes; with big strength. Taste of huge caramel, brown sugar, toffee, maple syrup, raisin, plum, prune, cherry, fig, date, apricot, red apple, red grape/wine, banana, bubblegum, vanilla, cinnamon, bourbon, toasted oak, roasted nuts, and dark/brown bread/crust; with lighter notes of coconut, cocoa, roast, peppercorn, clove, licorice, molasses, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Very mild herbal, grassy, roast bitterness; and yeast/bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, toffee, maple syrup, dark fruits, apricot, red apple, red grape/wine, banana, bubblegum, vanilla, cinnamon, bourbon, toasted oak, roasted nuts, apricot, red apple, red grape/wine, banana, bubblegum, vanilla, cinnamon, bourbon, toasted oak, roasted nuts, dark/brown bread/crust, coconut, cocoa, roast, peppercorn, clove, licorice, molasses, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Amazing complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/light roasted malts, maple syrup, spices, fruity/light spicy yeast, bourbon barrels, and light earthy hop flavors; with an amazing malt/roast/bitterness, and bourbon/oak spiciness balance; with no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Slightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness, and bourbon/oak/tannic spiciness after the finish. Light-medium carbonation and super full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/slick/bready, and lightly sticky/chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is fantastic. Light increasing warmth of 17.8%, with mild lingering barrel booze after the finish. Overall this is an amazing barrel aged imperial weizenbock. All around incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/light roasted malts, maple syrup, spices, fruity/light spicy yeast, bourbon barrels, and light earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV, with the mellowly bitter/spicy/tannic/drying finish; amazingly soft for the huge ABV. Amazing balance of super rich malts, maple syrup, German yeast, spices, and Bourbon barrel presence/integration. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. A highly amazing offering, and top tier base style example. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness.