Evil Rye
Haywire Brewing

Poured from a waxed bottle into a tulip. This is an imperial porter aged in a rye whisky barrel. Interesting!

Appearance: black hue allowing no light through, which a finger of frothy dark-tan foam atop. Quite nice indeed!

Smell: rye whisky is the name of the game, for sure. The barrel lends plenty of vanilla, and under that is a nice, sweet, chocolatey porter. It's a bit heavy in the whisky direction, but not *too* heavy.

Taste: the underlying porter comes through a lot more in the flavor than in the aroma. There's a malty sweetness, along with a bit of roast, and a bit of astringency. It reminds me of a ruby porter, but also with a shot of rye in it. I like this beer, but it lacks finesse.

Mouthfeel: medium-rich body with a moderate carbonation. It's not creamy, per se, but it has enough sweetness to be very smooth indeed. Good!

Overall: I like this beer's plan, but I feel like the rye barrel just overwhelms the underlying porter too much. Maybe a blend of barrel and steel would be a bit smoother, or perhaps just less time in the barrel. A good beer, but I think there are improvements to be made.