Silver Series: Maskeraad Bourbon BA
Pühaste Brewery

Pours a bit brownish orange, with basically no head. Smells sweet, hint of orange, plenty bourbon, white chocolate. Pretty sharp mouthfeel, good bit of alcohol. Taste is sweet and rich, lots of white chocolate, bourbon, tonka. Heavy one, but damn tasty.

Pours a cloudy, dark, redd'ish amber coloration with a tiny, fizzy head. Smells of caramel malt, toffee, red fruits, brown sugar and hints of vanilla and pine. Taste is an excellent balance of biscuity, caramel malt, light resinous hops and notes of toffee, red fruits, with notes of red currant, cranberry and fig, and lighter chocolate, coffee and hints of pine, vanilla, tonka, licorice and charred oak, Finishes bittersweet, with a light bitterness and some toffee, red fruit, vanilla and pine lingering in the aftertaste. Full mouthfeel with a rich body and light/medium carbonation.

While this styles itself as a "White Stout", which is a pointless, made-up style in my personal opinion, it actually makes for a rather nice American Strong Ale/Barleywine that has very little in common with a Stout when it comes to the flavor profile here. While I liked the base beer, I wasn't a huge fan and I think that the barrel treatment has really improved this a lot, kind of rounding out the rough edges a little and adding a bit more character to this, although the additives feeling a little muted, with the barrel presence taking over a bit, which just adds to the balance and complexity here at the end of the day though. Overall, this makes for a terrific American Strong Ale that may be just a tad boozy, but with a great balance of fruity, sweet, bitter and slightly resinous notes.