Lua's Birthday Blend
Lua Brewing

Brownish black opaque body with a tan head. Big dark fruit right away on the nose, especially raisin, with bourbon, toasted dark wood, molasses, toasted caramel, barley, mild brown earth, and especially toffee. Taste is also deeply complex, add a touch of smoke to the earthy tones, and cut the sweetness of the caramel and toffee tempered with cocoa, char and leather. A massive body with plenty of barrel and barley character without being syrupy or too thick. Complex, refined and drier, hides the 17% abv incredibly well

 

 

My chosen first glass at Voodoo's Good Vibes 2024, the bottle pour was viscous black with burnt brown edges and minimal head.

Having pre-gamed with an unexpectedly comparable 52 Hertz, this exhibited even bigger dark fruit than that, with huge date meeting slickly reduced bourbon before a Raisinet Oreo exhale.

 

 

Bottle pour; pour is stout-dark with a thin brown head that lingers around the edges. Nose is sweet toffee, dark fruit, and abv. Flavors are sweet, tempered by 'other' spirit barrels providing some mid-palate bite. Finish is a bit hot, but not lingering.

The pour boasts a deep, rich mahogany hue. Very little carbonation builds up on the aggressive pour, with the liquid quickly settling flat.

While uncertain exactly of what variety of spirit barrels were used for Lua's cuvée, the nose is very characteristic of a Sherry barrel-aged beer. Notes of dried fruit and fig provide a delicate touch of dryness and acidity, followed closely by undertones of tobacco and a touch of nuttiness.

Much like on the nose, the palate is largely characterized by fruit. Raisin, apricot, and ripe berries lead into an increasingly smoky profile as the beer continues to warm and oxidize a bit further. As the mid-palate begins to feature a mildly bittering caramel and baking chocolate, we parallel some of these identifiers as being similar to a Port wine. Warming spices and boot leather linger into the finish, culminating into a very cognac-adjacent flavor profile.

The viscosity is great on this; not overtly heavy and with appropriate carbonation to cut the weight. It's also worth noting that the dangerously smooth finish is alarmingly approachable for the 17% ABV that this final blend boasts.