Fuzzy Claus
E9 Brewing Co.

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque black in the glass with a one finger khaki head with great retention and nice lacing. Aroma of biscuit and lightly toasted malt, cocoa, coffee and a touch of mineral. Flavor is biscuit malt with light to moderate toasting, coffee, cocoa, licorice, dark stone fruit and some red wine and wood on the finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. Although certainly a strong ale, and not really spiced much, this struck me as a worthy winter warmer. The profile is most like a dense old ale, but with a bit more roast to the malt. Although I'm usually not a fan of vinous flavors in beer, the red wine notes really melded well with the other flavors and I repeatedly found myself drawn to the finish of this ale, where that component was most evident. Rich and flavorful and a great seasonal beer I hope to see again. The ABV is well covered, but just high enough I had to pace myself with this because the flavors were so enjoyable to parse. Well done.

 

a little bit of a different look on the can of this one, a blend of barrel aged dark strong ales, probably a stout and a barleywine, but i am not sure how they make this one, either way, its an absurd beer for a pint can, stoked my buddy dropped this off for me, it was a treat on christmas eve! deep dark brown color to this and a high rising burlap colored head, creamy and lasting, some shine to this, looks tidy and lively for what it is, and smells super alcoholic, even when its cold. some coffee character suggests a stout type in the blend, tons of bourbon to this, maybe a hint of red wine too, perhaps some mixed barrel action in play, but maybe just the malts and the wood tannins creating that, raisin and fig, plum and burnt sugar, concentrated grain character, fusel alcohol, vanilla and oak. it is both sweet and bitter, and also mellow and hot at the same time, like there is a crazy smoothness to this, a maturity as well, but it burns a little from the booze at the end as well. its a neat blend, i like that the darker beer doesnt dominate it, suggesting to me something other than a fifty fifty mix. the dried fruit nuance is nice, and it opens as it warms. sturdy as they come, deep winter sipper, festive without being spiced or anything, another hit from one of my favorites!