Old Ale
Ferment Brewing Company

picked this bottle up last fall when passing through on our honeymoon, been eager to crack it ever since. its dead sexy with the white wax, suits the style too in this bottle shape, awesome looking. it says 2017 vintage, didnt realize these guys had been around that long. also, its done in wine barrels, red i assume, and those really add something special to this, an excellent beer overall and a rather distinctive take on the style. its way more pale in color than i have really ever seen for one of these butterscotch colored with a little haze and a very lazy patchy white head, not much carbonation here, but its not really needed. it smells like vanilla and strong oak, honey and toffee from the grain, a little toasted warmth from the grain with the alcohol pushing through, but not overly malty in the traditional sense for the style, its almost delicate even when i drink it too, very nuanced and not as heavy as these generally are, way cool! lightly bready with a yeast element here, a cool european grain profile thats not all that heavy, more toffee, a hint of almond, sticky bun, and even rum, but a light berry thing from the wine is here along with some tannins that work with this, lots of oak and alcohol too, really festive and seems right for holiday time. well aged, nice and mature, no oxidation at all either, drier than most and lighter in body too. very unique and very good! it also seems obvious that this could go years longer in the cellar, not that it needs to...