Barrel Aged Fyfe's Highland Ale (Scottish Style Ale)11% I'm assuming Bourbon, but I haven't seen what brand barrel or for how long. I'm also not familiar with the base beer or Scottish ales in general, so i can't say exactly what characteristics the BAing did to it. Pretty much no carbonation to note, no head while pouring. Bourbon scent is pretty low-key. This beer was smooth with no alcohol sting at all. I am a fan of some heavy barrel/booze presence, but I can appreciate a lighter touch now and then. There is a touch of sweet and a slight tacky finish. Not that 11% is considered strong anymore, but I would have guessed this one to be closer to 8%. I drank 2 of my 3 already mainly because I wanted to see if my first impressions held, and they did. As such, I don't see this beer as a good candidate for aging. The barrel is already fairly mellow and the beer smooth. I wouldn't want aging to take what bourbon is there. So my 3rd one will be consumed soon.
Did you grab this at Grapevine? They seem to get all of the Bull & Bush stuff the day it's bottled, the other guys have to wait for distro.
Yes @ Grapevine for $9.99 I had stopped @ Mayfair a day before that and the guy had no clue about the beer. But from the Grapevine post it sounded like the other stores were getting a later delivery
Bull & Bush self distributes to Grapevine, hence the earlier releases. It is the only store they do. The CBC releases are collaborations and exclusives for certain stores. In the past I know Mile High and certainly Grapevine have been involved and continue to be. I believe there is one or two more stores involved in this release. It should be listed on the bottle.
Also my two cents is these are steals for the value and quality of the beer. I bought some at grapevine for the first release. May have been a little lower than $9.99 back then.
The first two CBC's have been stellar and normal Fyfe's is good to begin with. That was the first B&B beer I ever had something like a decade ago. I think the only B&B bottle I've had that I didn't love was Barrel Man Beer. Syrah and IPA just doesn't jive for me. I get the creative aspect of it, but it didn't work.
YES bottled BA Wee Heavy from a reputable CO brewery!!! I'll be buying tons of this... 11% scotch ale should age nice CBC#1 has aged beautifully for an olde ale
Fair assessment, although I'd add a couple notes, carbonation is typically low & poor retention when barrel aging due to lack of pressure and loss of yeast viability (unless brewer pitches again for bottle conditioning) but still can be accommodated for. A lot of BA wee heavys are carbed low as well, like around 1.5 volumes (most beers fall in the 2.0-3.0 volumes range). Scottish ales (and the heavier scottish ales like Wee Heavys) have a lot of caramelization from the malts and long boil times, similar to a barleywine. In addition they can also have a bit of smokiness, occasionally brewed with a small % of roasted barley, and >8% ABV, all great indicators of a good cellarable style/beer. Founder's Backwoods Bastard is a great example of a BA wee heavy that ages well (although you're right due to being barrel aged the limit I find on a lot of these are ~3 years or so)
