What beer are you drinking now? #2177

This is still tasting amazing. Flavors of huge dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, maple syrup, molasses, brown sugar, fudge, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, and dark bread; with lighter notes of smoke, char, tobacco, coconut, raisin, fig, cherry, and dates. Slight booze in the aromas as it warms. Light roast/char bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness on the finish. Very full bodied and mellow carbonation. Incredible creamy, silky, velvety, and slick mouthfeel; light stickiness, chalky roast/char, and oak tannins. Lightly increasing bitter roast and tannic oak dryness. No cloying. Mild increasing warmth of 12%, no barrel booze. Intensely rich and complex, with awesome barrel presence and integration. Aged wonderfully and tastes less boozy than last year.


Last bottle of this one. Glad I found a couple more last year. I know a lot of people hated this, but I loved it. Aromas and flavors of huge wood/peat smoke, salt, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, vanilla, toasted oak, brown bread, leather, and tobacco; with lighter notes of nuttiness, raisin, fig, date, citrus peel/rind, and piney hops. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind bitterness; and tannic oak/scotch spiciness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; balanced creaminess, hop stickiness, and oak tannins in the mouthfeel; a touch of resin and slickness. Increasingly drying from bitter resin and tannin notes; not astringent. Definitely way toned down on the hops of the base beer, but their character creeps in as the beer warms. The scotch is crazy huge. The nose is pretty much pure peat, leather, tobacco, brine at first whiff; but additional malt/barrel complexity eventually creeps in. The flavors showcase more of a balanced profile between sweet malt, hops, and scotch barrels. For 13%, really only mildly warming, and not boozy at all. You REALLY need to love Islay scotch to enjoy this beer. Hope they make it again. Tastes identical to 2 years ago, feels like it never aged!


Cheers

 

Amazing NEIPA as always. Aromas and flavors of huge tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, peach, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, berry, lemon zest, orange peel, and light pepper/pine hops; with balanced honey, wheat, toasted bread, light caramel malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Light pine, citrus peel, herbal, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; very creamy/bready malt mouthfeel; some sticky hops and slight resins. Slightly increasing lingering bitter dryness, never astringent. Used to be Boxer, but some legal crap made them change the name. I slightly prefer it over M43. More malty from the Vienna/Munich malts; and also prefer the hop profile more because of Equinox/Mosaic additions. Old Nation is making the best NEIPAs in the state. Always have all of them in the fridge now.


Fantastic American Barleywine as always, never had a fresh batch until this year. Flavors of big grapefruit, tangerine, apricot, raisin, plum, cherry, citrus peel/rind, pepper, and pine hops; with balanced caramel, brown sugar, toffee, toasted biscuit malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Good sized pine, citrus rind, herbal, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Medium-full bodied; balanced bready creaminess and sticky/resinous hops in the mouthfeel. Quickly increasing resin dryness, touch of hop astringency, smooth sipper. This is one of the most aggressive American Barleywines out there, but I always love it. Classic Chinook, Centennial, Cascade resinous hop profile with balancing malts. Definitely a lot more juicy citrus on the hops as fresh, than the aged ones I have been having. Used to only age it for 2-3 years first. Love it either way now. My style appreciations have evolved over time for everything.


Cheers