Starcleaners
Oude Northwest

Caught between the styles of stout and barleywine, but also between the worlds of bourbon and sherry, this concoction is going to need some help. Oude Northwest employ the help of Stillwater, Bottleworks and Talking Cedar for such the task.

The collaborative Starcleaners hits the glass with a voluminous, deep and dark brown sense of saturation while constructing a mocha whipped, nougat-like froth. With a billowing scent of toffee, chocolate, coffee and honey swirling about the nose, so do a background aroma of vinous fruits, oaken nuance and whisky spice. As its sweetness gravitates onto the tongue, the malt impact is real- suggestive of honey, caramel, toffee and cocoa with no real hop rebuttal. A balance from the barrel brings oaken character of plum, date, red grape, dark berry and currant with a slight tangy wine character. Bourbon spice adds a bit of heat with added complexity of coconut, vanilla and nuttiness to close.

Full bodied, creamy and very well melded, the flavors come together seamlessly as the sweet and sassy ale trails into a malty-rich after palate. Its perfect for those who like a sweeter stout with vinous undertones.

12oz can with more prominent labeling from Stillwater. I generally love stout and barleywine blends, but this is on the lower end of those that I've tried. Vanilla nougat, cigarette ash, red plum and jujube. Paper towels? Plenty of residual sweetness from the sherry barrels, nowhere near as much complexity as expected from a blend like this.

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque in the glass with a thin khaki head that dissipates to sparse patches with slight lacing. Aroma of dark toasted and dry caramel malt, bourbon, dried dark fruit and oaky wood. Flavor is dark toasted and caramel malt, dried plums, raisins, a hint of cherry, oaky vanilla and bourbon; bourbon and dried fruit finish. Somewhat hot. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. A nice local take on the blended strong ale style. Has expected mix of stout and barleywine malt with this one leaning to the barleywine, probably due to the fruit notes in both the bourbon and sherry barrels. Fairly complex, a bit bourbon forward at first, but rich and satisfying. Nicely done.

 

Pours an oily viscous black-adjacent colour with an initial fuzz of khaki foam that dissipates first to cosmic swirls, then to a ring, and finally to nothing. No lacing.

Nose is sweet and rich and inviting. There's boozy dark fruit, like brandied plums, and some syrupy chocolate, and some vanilla and oaky wood. Rich, complex, and lovely.

Flavour actually surpasses the aroma, by my reckoning. Initial sweet touch, that has a lot of vanilla and sherry, Boozy dark cherries, some coffee bitterness, a bit of tobacco, maybe a fruity chocolate... This carries the rich/complex theme from the nose and just absolutely nails it.

The body is oily viscous with little nips of carbonation. There's no mistaking the alcohol present in here, but it doesn't present as 'hot' or with a burn, and it folds in with the other flavours wonderfully. While there's a definite sweetness to it, it also doesn't stray too far into that realm (a deft touch I appreciate in this era of pastry stouts and just overly sweet big brews in general). It lets a lot of that sweetness come from the barreling (especially the sherry).

Overall this one has far exceeded my expectations and really just nails the rich dark indulgent thing to a T. It's right in my wheelhouse, and presents as layered and decadent and is one of the better beers I've had in quite some time.