Ominous Synth Music
Bonesaw Brewing Company

 

Very dark appearance, almost stout-like but clearer.

Bourbon and sherry are quite noticeable on the nose. It's quite potent. Aromas of caramel, dark bready malts, dark fruit, vanilla, leather, nuts, chocolate, brown sugar, bourbon, and sherry.

Flavor follows. It's big and boozy, and shockingly thick. Very chocolatey. Bourbon and port, leather, raisin, prune, banana, pecan, espresso, red grape.

2021 release. Poured from 500 ML bottle into a snifter glass. It pours a deep mahogany with a robust, creamy yellow-khaki head and thick lacing. It's highly aromatic with roasted malt, brown sugar, toffee, raisin, fig, and a strong whiff of sherry. The taste is rich and complex with abundant molasses, raisin, and fig over an earthy malt base with notes of brown bread, tobacco, burnt nuts, and red berries. As it warms in the glass there is increasing layers of taste with the influence of the sherry and whiskey barrels. While the ale is definitely sweet it isn't cloying and sherry influence provides balance. The flavors blend perfectly. This ale has a thick creamy - almost chewy - mouth feel with low/moderate carbonation and the taste is so big and impressive that I hardly notice the 13.3% ABV. While you can feel the alcohol it doesn't burn or distract. Overall, Ominous Synth Music is an exquisite Old Ale. It's well-conceived and supremely executed. Bonesaw really should be proud of it. I will seek out more.

Bonesaw Brewing Co. "Ominous Synth Music"
500 ml brown glass bottle, coded "2021"
$19.49 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: Nice looking bottle as usual, although I personally hate waxed caps. At least they did it right though and the seal was really tight; that of course made it harder to get the bottle open but at least there wasn't a lot of broken pieces of wax left on the table. It's poured a very dark brown that appears black in the full glass. There's not a lot to it's short head of dark tan but that's to be expected of a strong beer aged in barrels. The aroma is just as rich as you'd expect it to be with notes of brown sugar, dark cocoa, dried dark skinned fruits (raisin, plum, date), red berries, dark chocolate, wood, leather, molasses, and alcohol. It's one of those beers that you can just sniff at for hours, which is great because you've got to keep the actual drinking slowed a bit at 13.3% ABV. The flavor is even richer, and definitely on the sweet side. There's brown sugar, golden caramel, milk chocolate, cocoa powder, coconut, molasses, and that sticky-sugar that forms on the skins of dried fruits. That dark skinned fruit flavor might be the second main note to it, but there's still a light note of red berries and the other barrel associated flavors (wood, leather, alcohol) that support that and give it greater depth. There's not a lot of bitternes to it, nor should there be, and it's up to the dryness of the wood and alcohol to tame it. It's definitely sweet, but if you don't keep nipping at it it dries out just fine; otherwise I think it might become cloying. In the mouth it's full bodied with a gentle caress of carbonation. It's creamy-smooth across the tongue. I've had a fair nip of it at this point and I can detect the alcohol, but to be honest it's really quite well hidden, and what is there, is a necessary part of its profile. I'm really, really pleased with this. It's bigger, sweeter, and richer than many examples but they haven't overshot it. It's definitely worth checking out!
Review #7,533

 

“Aged for over two years in Sherry/single malt whiskey casks.” Holy cow this beer is phenomenal. Blurs the lines between English barley wine and old ale. I don’t get any peat or smoke elements but huge PX Sherry influence. Massive malt layering, brûlée sugar, slightly warming in the finish, molasses, prunes and dates and raisins. There’s just so much going on and while it’s sweet it’s way more than that and eons beyond the saccharine sweetness of so many contemporary stouts. This beer has flavor and complexity for days. Can’t wait to have it again - I’ll get as many of these and the BA Barley wine as I can.