Bourbon Barrel Aged Yersinia
Lost Grove Brewing

this is really nice, not overly barrel forward, smooth and even somewhat light in body and overall texture for the style, could be a product of it having a little time on it now, but on the whole i liked this a lot, cocoa forward with nice earthy bitter tones and not too much vanilla or whiskey, a nice recipe and good execution. pretty sure i am having the 2022 version, but do not see a date anywhere on the bottle. a bit more brown than black, some murk towards the bottom but pretty uniform, it even looks chocolatey. the nose has some roast to it but more of the middle malts, some toffee to me and some nuttiness but not overly sweet, the barrel char and the wood are ahead of whatever was in the barrel, and the cocoa nibs are out in front of the vanilla, earthy and high end to me, very cohesive. the flavor is somewhat understated for the style, this is bold on the cocoa aspect but to me not one of the more robust takes on the style out there, not heavy on the dark grain, not boozy, not whiskey forward, not overly woody or anything, sort of middling in a lot of respects but i like how well that sets up the nibs, tons of that in here which must be the point, good bitterness on the back end, i love it not being too sweet, and the barrel treatment highlights rather than runs over the malt. nice beer overall, need to try the fresher latest vintage. have not had a ton of barrel aged beer from these guys but i enjoyed this one! seems kind of festive for holiday time too...

Red wax-topped 2022 bottling; pours a dark cola brown with a khaki head; sweetness and dark fruit on the nose. Significant vanilla and caramel on the palate, nice barrel notes, some char and smoke but its mostly sweet. Very good.