Bourbon Barrel Aged Chasing the Chaos (Navy Wax)
Timber Ales

2023 vintage (released in 5/2023; consumed on 7/23/2024

Pours a viscous, nearly midnight-black body topped with a finger of fluffy, dark khaki-hued foam; decent head retention leaves a near-blank surface, large, creamy collar, and the haphazard spatter of chunky, webby lacing holding tentatively to the walls of the glass.

Aromas are heavy with oak and balances with a level char steadily dissipating to gooey toffee and soft cherry esters, with powdered cocoa appears on the latter half of the bouquet as distant marshmallow informs.

Taste opens to waves of powdered cocoa as burly bourbon booziness washes over the profile, leaving an oaky prickle lingering past the mid-palate while caramel and cacao edges phase through the swallow.

Mouthfeel shows a body on the fuller end of medium and a subtle, lower-end carbonation; robust warming eases to a silky mid-palate as a level char meanders across the back end of the palate.

Defined, clean presentation and a charry malt detailing; an advanced effort from a brewer increasingly notable for their barrel-aging.

 

This one pours a fairly dark black color, with a small head, and a little bit of lacing.

This smells like dark chocolate, tobacco, coffee, vanilla, caramel, and some light fruitiness.

This is super barrel forward in a wonderful way, with a sweet vanilla and spicy tobacco thing, some oak, and a pleasant caramelly bourbon note. There’s some cookie dough, char, and lots of dark chocolate.

This is medium bodied, very creamy, with not a whole lot of booziness.

Timber is just about the only brewery that I actively chase anymore. This is great as usual.

Milk and baker's chocolate, dark plums and honey, and a balanced bourbon barrel nose on this one! Taste follows with a dark chocolate and vanilla bourbon barrel boozy swallow. As it warms, a little heat on the backend appears...along with a roasty bitterness. This boozy/bitterness clashes a bit on the finish, but this is well done!