Grain Dance
Full Circle Brew Co.

way cool beer here, my first from these guys, tall can schlepped back from our summer trip to scotland, good find by me! neat to see oats in play in the style, and i think its a nice add, very complex malt to this, as should be the case in the style, looks like they do a port barrel aged edition of this as well, which i would absolutely love to taste, but i was impressed with this, even if it was the last thing i needed when i opened it last night, at least according to my wife. i love the packaging and i love the beer, and was sort of mesmerized by the color, its so red it almost looks fruited, like raspberry beer or something, its ruby colored, hard to believe thats all from malt along, never seen anything like it, light sediment towards the bottom of the can, tall couple inches of off white airy peaky head, looks amazing! the nose is toasty and interesting, with golden raisin and date fruitiness, a light earthen spice element, the hearty oats along with a lot of bread, brown sugar, and toffee, but its not overly sweet to me, more baked and warm than outwardly sugary, and the yeast is there too, english and classic, rounds this out to me, light on the hops, lots of room for nutty grain and interesting wrinkles that make this lighter than most, graham cracker and almond flour and dried cherry or cranberry even, just a little alcohol to it, but i like this being lower than most for the style, just incredible depth without the huge commitment. the flavor is wonderful, tons of fruitiness to this, red berry coming through from the malt somehow, bread pudding without being overly desserty, hazelnut and an almost rye spice thing, wintery and warming even with the lower alcohol, this is cozy beer. i love the fermentation character coming through, and it all warms up really well. wet soil type minerality, white pepper, fallen leaves, plum or prune or even plum fruit leather to me, good fuller middle body with the oats appreciable there too. love what they bring to this, and think this is a really smart recipe that has been gorgeously executed. great first impression, and id be so curious to try the port barrel one, that fruitiness must make the fruitiness of these malts absolutely pop. light astringency late, but it keeps it kind of light, not as sweet as most, the more approachable strength is great, and a pint can felt like the right dose, well, 440ml, metrics and all. ive got to source more from these guys, this is downright fantastic! such a cool and unique approach to the style, great name for a barleywine too, and this one specifically, with the oats and barley doing the tango together, yum!