Twinkle Wood
Haywire Brewing

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque in the glass with a three finger milk chocolate head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, bakers chocolate, woody oak, dark molasses, light coffee and a hint of maple syrup. Flavor is dark toasted malt, woody oak, hints of maple syrup, rye whiskey and dark molasses with a little leather and coffee beans. Medium bodied with moderate creaminess. Lots of barrel character in this one, with slightly astringent wood in the finish. A big, dense head that has the consistency of meringue is quite impressive.The malt base has good toastiness and bakers chocolate. The flavor thins out a bit into the finish which has the noted woody aftertaste. There is rye whiskey here, but the barrel wood is more prominent. Although this is only a few months old, it has an interesting overall flavor of a long aged whiskey stout. The maple actually only shows up as a lingering memory, probably because the maple component was already incorporated into the original rye. I was surprised to see bottles of a barreled stout at this new-to-me small brewery, but had to give them a try and it was worth the chance. The barreling needs a little dialing in, but it’s a good woody rye whisky stout here. The pour is lovely. I look forward to the barreled doppelbock I got at the same time. Name and bottle graphics were idiosyncratic for a big barreled stout.