Barrel-Aged Oblation
Troubled Monk Brewery

650ml bottle - a strange find, as I am unsure as to whether or not they have released another batch of this in the past 3 years or so.

This beer pours a slightly hazy, dark copper amber colour, with two fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and mildly bubbly tan head, which leaves some decent disintegrating iceberg pattern lace around the glass as it slowly wafts away.

It smells of bready and doughy caramel malt, treacle, subtle vanilla-forward wet barrel notes, a muddled and bruised pome fruitiness, some oily nuts, and very, very tame earthy, musty, and herbal hop bitters. The taste is grainy and cereal-esque toffee malt, still rather understated sweet woody essences, plum and pear syrup, molasses, caramel nut squares, and more plain leafy, musty, and floral noble hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly benign in its palate-lulling frothiness, the body a solid medium weight, and generally smooth, with a small airy creaminess arising as soon as things warm up a tad out of the ol' repurposed vegetable crisper. It finishes well off-dry, the malt and fickle barrel character still looking for a place to happen.

Overall - this is a pleasant enough rendering of a barrel-aged barleywine, one that comes off as much more English in its bearing, IMHO. With virtually no sign of the elevated ABV, it sure is easy to sip away on, as the New Year (and decade) is now upon us here in Wild Rose Country. To a better future, all around!