Odin's Wrath
Barbarian Brewing

Draft at brewery. Hazy orange golden pour, tiniest ring of head. Aroma is coming off sour for a Belgian strong, stone fruit. Taste brings Belgian yeast and ABV, fruity. Kind of all over the place with strong elements of my nectarine and Belgian yeast. A nice assault on the senses.

2020 vintage on-tap at the brewery.

A: Clear, medium gold body with no head or lacing, but some alcohol legs left on the glass.

S: Fairly subdued nose for a big brew like this; mild sourness and Brett funk, as well as some horsey-Belgian fruity yeast. Barrel and malt sweetness is there but slightly buried and not in the forefront.

T: More of the same on the palate with some sweet malty additions, with impressions of honey and stone fruit.

MF: Warm finish and a slight drying finish on the big malty body.

O: Not my favorite, doesn't showcase the stone fruit like I expected, and the Brett character doesn't really work with the fruit flavors in my opinion.

an awesome and powerfully strong brew here, unique as can be, these guys are always up to some interesting stuff in the brew house. this is some 15% abv belgian golden strong ale, done with something called a mango nectarine, which is just a type of nectarine, not a cross with a mango, google tells me. its also got a brett pitch, but this isnt real funky or fermentation forward to me, and comes across as belgian more than anything wild. the fruit is bold in this, very juicy, sweet, summery, and ripe, and its obvious to me that the fruit is real. i think the pungency of the nectarines make this beer, like im not sure how good it would be on its own. the alcohol is just a touch exposed, and the beer overall seems a little unrefined to me, i think they could scale back on the amount of beers and work some of these good ideas into equally well executed final products, but it seems like everything is a one and done and no learning or refinement really manifests itself in the new beers, like, this could be amazing, but the overall attention to detail isnt amazing. fortunately, the fruit is delicious in this, the subtle brett makes it nuanced and interesting, and the belgian yeast has chewed through enough of the sugar in this to make it oddly drinkable for what it is, not too much body or linger here surprisingly. it could use more carbonation, and heavies up some as it warms because its quite still. the brett could also use a little more time to evolve in here, it seems young to me, even though i can still appreciate its contribution. a neat beer overall, i am thankful for the fruit, super ambitious and good, distinctive, but not quite professionally executed to me. still, i am so glad to have these guys in the market here locally, they make some of the coolest beers in idaho for sure!