Burn Barrel
Clifford Brewing Co.

Appearance: Poured as black as night and produced a finger and a half's worth of head that retained admirably and produced some lace. The downside is the bottom of the glass, as several big old chunky bits of hopefully yeast have taken residence there that I didn't notice until I accidentally sipped one down.

Smell: Roasted burnt malt that oddly competes with this odd gum funk, and even that might not be giving it the right name. I think I catch banana whiffs too so I think there is wheat malt here, but it's not like a mint of a bubblegum. It's like someone mixed not quite stale gum with a malteser (like whopper malt ball candy that isn't as crunchy for any US readers). It's got potency and it's not off putting, but it's weird.

Taste: Starts sweet as that banana/gum wheat malt note seems to draw out more of a sweet caramel and milk chocolate vibe from it. It's so sweet, I'd almost wonder if lactose is in it. However, then in turns to it's namesake, rich charred malt bitterness that expresses itself with far more potency as the beer warms, and to be honest with you, throws off the transitioning substantially. That said, that point only became an issue near the bottom of the glass.

Mouthfeel: The transitioning started very smooth as the bitterness was more muted but as it warmed up, it became more and more of a hill that threw me off. The other thing that threw me off was accidentally sipping a chunk of that yeast. If you are going to put live yeast in the can, bottle it or label it. Other then that a mixed dark and sweet chocolate aftertaste is good. As was the smooth, creamy carbonation, but has some obvious flaws here.

Drinkability: Well I got past the halfway point absurdly quick before the issue of the yeast came around which curbed my drinking of it, and then again when it was nearly done and the transitioning went awry. It's nice and thick and doesn't reveal it's 10% ABV in the slightest and very easy on the system with it's creamy texture.

Final Thoughts: A good beer that could be so much more. The can does list it's ingredients and yes wheat is listed, but so are oats which I guess contributes to the smoothness of the beer. That said, it needs to be labelled as having yeast (that or maybe I got a bad can? I don't think so though). I have no doubt that transitioning issue would never have been noticed had that yeast been removed, because it was that easy to drink.