Brrl Room Bourbon Barrel-Aged Chocolate Orange Old Fashioned Ale
Field House Brewing Co.

Hazy dark orange-brown color. Poured a medium head that collapsed in irregular patches of large bubbles and creamy foam; dropped down to a skiff of foam after several minutes. Too dark to see the carbonation level. Left small polka dots of lacing.

Mild scents of chocolate, celery stalk, and very light orange peel. Also some light malt, something a bit sour, and an odd scent that is weirdly dusty. Touch of horse blanket. Swirling the glass boosted the horse blanket and to a lesser extent, some orange peel.

Flavor is mostly bitter chocolate (maybe with some coffee), dark roasted malt, and a sweet (not bitter) orange and orange peel. Something is a little tart along with some horse blanket, but only for an instant at the beginning. There is a medium bitter that builds over time. The aftertaste is a blend of orange and celery seeds with some lighter chocolate. The bitter hangs around for a long time.

Some light tongue tingling as it foamed up. Felt creamy but with some larger bubbles adding a coarse texture on top. Slightly astringent along with the aftertaste. Slight alcohol burn builds after a while.

I don't think that this could ever be a regular beer for me, although I would be sure to recommend it to others for a taste. I like that the chocolate (and coffee?) is more restrained than many ales with added chocolate, but it could be reduced even more. The orange flavor is spectacular; the use of orange peel at two different points in the brewing process really gives a nicely rounded profile that is very different from most other ales with orange peel. The orange could be boosted and the chocolate reduced to provide a better balance. The odd thing is the celery stalk and celery seed scent and flavor respectively. The celery provides a contrasting backstop for some of the other scents and flavors.