As most of you know, I celebrated the halfway to 1000 beers point with a bit of an online celebration – giving away bike chain bottle openers and cards. The other thing I did was have a poll to select which beer I should enjoy for #500. Withe the help of a tweet from @Schlafly, this beer easily cruised to the top spot. So, as promised, I cracked this one open at the end of the celebration week and enjoyed the halfway mark.
The bottle says, “This barleywine-style ale was aged on Oak adding a nutty-roasty flavor to the sweet bready character of the ale. This 2008 vintage will age well for several years but is ready to drink now. Enjoy it with spicy dishes and grilled meats especially game to bring out it’s best flavors.
Location: Poured into a Schlafly snifter glass from the 750ml bottle at my home in Bloomington, IL.
Numbers: 10.2% ABV, 315 Calories
Appearance & Aroma: It’s brick red in color and extremely clear. It had a thin head, and as I was pouring it, it fell quickly – almost like a soft drink. However, there appears to be quite a bit of carbonation in it. The aroma is noticeably boozy with some charred oak and sweet caramel maltiness.
Taste & Feel: The body is full, and the mouthfeel is very smooth with a bit of a carbonation tingle. There was a sweet, thick caramel flavor up front. In the middle, the warm caramel boozy flavors come in, along with a charred oak flavor. Both flavors smooth out in the finish with the warming boozy flavor continuing well into the aftertaste.
Food Pairing: This is a hearty beer with plenty of caramel, charred oak, and boozy flavors, and therefore, needs an equally hearty meal to stand up to it. I’d go with a seasoned t-bone steak, right off the wood-burning grill giving you a flavorful clash of woody, caramel, and beefy-boozy manliness that might also go nicely with a cigar.
Overall Impression: Since it was a 5 year old vintage, I was curious how it would hold up. It was obvious from the carbonation, booziness, and light sediment at the bottom of the bottle that it had continued to slowly ferment. Even so, there was a nice bit of caramel maltiness up front and in the backbone of the beer. However, during the middle of each sip, and continuing throughout the aftertaste, the charred oak and boozy flavors took over. It wasn’t a bourbon barrel type booziness, but more like the alcohol phenols you get from really big beers. I think I would have liked it much better with two adjustments – 1. a little less charred oak and a little more woody-vanilla oak characters, and 2. a little more bourbon-like booziness than phenolic alcohol flavors. Overall, it was still a very good beer, and I’m glad I’ve still got another bottle of this stashed away in my cellar.
My Rating: 
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