Barrel Aged IPA² Blend
Willimantic Brewing Co.

Thanks to Aliza for this rare and unusual offering. Small clear bottle that states 8.7% and 6/2009. Served in a Kuhnhenn tulip.

A - A hard pour yields a big-bubbled foam that settles to a thin ring of bubbles and a patch of wisps on-tap. Body is a hazed dark peach color with lots of bubbles adhering to the sides of the glass. Some spotty lacing is left behind.

S - Very unusual nose - heavy oak, dill, some citrus zest, vanilla, some mild whiskey, sugary malt and brown sugar sweetness, musky funk, and lactic sourness.

T - Taste is sweeter, with lots of oaky vanilla and sugar malt, and only light tangy sourness. There's some light orange citrus character that evokes creamsicle, but it's mixed with a tangy and sour dill character.

M - Low carbonation, extremely dry tannic finish, some residual hop oils and resins, medium slick body. Somewhat juice-like.

D - This was a very strange beer - although I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by the flavor combinations. The oak character reminds me of a beer like Vagabond, where it started to pick up tons of oaky vanilla and dill notes, while the remaining elements are definitely quite IPA-like. Not something I expected to like, particularly after trying some of the Short's Anniversary beers, but Willimantic manages to pull it off. I'm glad I greedily drank this tiny bottle on my own, as half would have been too little. I'd actually really like to have this again, although I'm not sure what the likelihood of that happening is...

The beer pours a nice golden color with a thick frothy white head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is awesome! It has a nice pale and bisquit malt scent along with a very nice hop aroma. This is where I get lost. What is a dickle barrel? Anyway, it lends a tart, almost dill pickle character to the aroma. It's unique and just plain good. The taste is good. Again, the barrel aging really messes with the overall beer flavor, but in a good way. It's a solid IPA with loads of refreshing hops and a solid malt bill. The character the barrel lends is off the hook. It's sweet, it's sour. I'm at a loss for words. The mouthfeel is fine. It is a medium/full bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a crazy tasting beer! I love it and so did most who tried it at EBF 2010.

On tap @ Willibrew on 2/18/10. Served in a 12 oz tulip glass. According to Dave, this is a blend of Dickel barrel-aged IPA-2 and regular Pushing The Envelope IPA that was then allowed to have some wild beasties take a crack at it. At least I think I got that right!

Pours a clear deep copper, topped with a thin covering of bright-white froth. This stays rich around the edges, with some thin wisps in the center, leaving back a smooth and creamy cascade of lacing. The aroma has a very sharp funky tartness to it in the nose. Hints of charred wood, vanilla, earthy hops, citric character, caramel malts, and maybe a bit of Lacto. Some in our group likened it to a hopppy sour mash aroma. It's all quite tangy and pronounced but once I got past it's initial sharpness, I found the flavors to work quite nicely together and actually became pleasant smelling to me as my nostrils became more and more acclimated towards it.

The taste mirrors the aroma for the most part. The hop character is a little more pronounced here, with a deeply earthy and pithy feeling tone to it. This also possesses a tart (and borderline souring) tanginess to it, courtesy of citrus flavors, caramel malts, vanilla, oaky tannins, and whatever bacteria is at work here. Very dry in the finish, with a good bit of leftover tartness just sticking in the mouth. The mouthfeel is medium-fuller bodied, with a very slick and oily feel to the body, which literally feels like it is slithering around in the mouth at times. It does hold all of those deep flavors and ABV very nicely together, with not a whole lot of it's alcohol showing itself in the taste. Solid overall feel here.

There was a lot going on with this and honestly, I could see how ones opinion of this might be all over the place. Personally, once I got used to what was going on with it, I started to really appreciate what the barrel and funk had done to this IPA blend. Interesting stuff here for sure.