For the Rest of Us
Barbarian Brewing

16oz can pours dark brown with red highlights and a fairly large khaki-colored head. Smorgasbord of spices and citrus notes abound with some residual sweetness reminiscent of brown sugar and molasses...grainy as well. Orange peel, cinnamon, ginger, clove...cola-ish. Actually, more like root beer. Interesting. Not bad, just wouldn't want a lot of this.

 

16oz crowler from the brewery. Mahogany pour, filmy beige head, rings of lacing. Aroma is candied orange peel, clove, hint of cinnamon, and ginger. A bit of vanilla in there too. Taste brings root beer flavors, notes of savory spice and orange. Sweet without a ton of cinnamon. Seems a bit thin though.

really unique winter beer here, an old ale as a base, but a curiously low alcohol one, and its jazzed up with cinnamon and orange and vanilla and ginger and nutmeg, really pretty robust with all of it, nice as a cold weather sipper, even without the usual booziness that often comes with the style. the orange is a nice touch, uplifting and natural and breaking up some of the malt heft and residual sugar, it would be heavy without it i reckon. the nutmeg and cinnamon and ginger are all pretty strong in this too, giving it a sort of tea-like vibe. the ginger is nice with the orange, but its really persistent, especially on the finish, it lingers long and carries some of the grain sweetness with it. i like the depth of flavor here though, lots going on and its pretty cohesive, a honey or maple thing to it, an almost sage-like herbal property, and enough cinnamon to make this kind of taste like christmas. fuller bodied, and it seems to even drink stronger than it is, which is a neat trick. some will call this over spiced, but its remains beery enough for me, and i thought as a cold weather sipper it was tasty and unique. one of the first non sour beers from these guys to make much of an impression on me...

edit: still on tap at the downtown location a couple months later, it seems to have mellowed a little over time, real well integrated and less intense now, still excellent. get some before its gone!