Pinky Promise
Banded Oak Brewing Company

definitely up there with the best beers i have had from banded oak so far, this one done in collaboration with odyssey, a biere de garde aged in a syrah barrel. the combination of this base style and this type of red wine barrel is new to me, and its highly agreeable and well done overall. the biere de garde is light for the style in color, no darker than brass, but downright pale golden in the right light, clear for being barrel aged, and without a lot of head from the tap there at the brewery. the aroma is killer, as much oak as red wine right up front, sweet and tannic alike, vanilla and acidity, interesting and mouthwatering, with the fruitiness of the red wine dark and earthy and some honey malt sweetness in behind it. i always think of this style as being a combination of malt and yeast driven, like a more grain heavy saison, but in this case, the yeast seems pretty minimal, lost in subtlety perhaps to the barrel, which is enormously assertive in the flavor. tons of oak and wine, blackberries and raspberries and black cherries to it, a little sweet, but mellowed well by the sweet and earthy wood. there is some malt body here, but not as much flavor from it as i am used to in the style. cool mix of flavors though, a little boozy at the end when its warmer, but i dont mind that so much here with the wine as robust as it is. a really interesting and well made beer, not something that usually sees wood like this, it really works!