Serendipitous oak-barreled amber ale with rusty nickel hue spreads syrupy Grand Marnier orange liqueur warmth and medicinal whiskey-daubed Cognac likeness over caramel-malted butterscotch bottom. Chardonnay-buttered brandy, bourbon, port and plum wine notes crowd rotted blood orange, tangerine, peach and cherry souring at the midst. White grape, green raisin and moldy fig tartness flutters through tertiary honeyed herbal notions.
On tap at Pony Bar, vigorous bourbon-aged stout carries forth with luscious oats-charred coffee bean bittering contrasting buttery oaken vanilla serenity and chewy black chocolate creaming. Toffee, coconut and hazelnut illusions seep inside the caressive mocha blend. Black cherry hints waver below the dry bourbon wining.
Ineluctable whiskey barrel aging adds sweet bourbon and dry Scotch alacrity to hybridized Belgian-style strong ale. Smoked cherry wood malting at peat-seared beechwood entry fades out to abundant rum-spiced brown chocolate midst. Brown-sugared maple sapping influences ancillary toffee, vanilla and hazelnut illusions as well as wispy cherry-fig conflux. Despite lacking advertised smokiness at busy mocha-spiced finish, rich chocolate dessert is highly satisfying slow sipper.
Refreshingly crisp India Pale Ale aged in Grand Marnier oak brings lemony grapefruit-peeled piney hop bittering to clean white-watered mineral graining, leaving only subtle hints of red-wined Grand Marnier along the trail. Vanilla, honey and burnt caramel sweeten ancillary dried orange tartness. An approachable wood-soaked digestif well suited for lighter thirsts but bold enough to receive strong ale plaudits.
Subtly sweet Scottish stout matured in Irish whiskey barrels retains smooth brown chocolate creaminess crosscut by mild Bushmill Irish coffee surety and faded pine-sapped bittering. Serene maple molasses sugaring contrasts ashen peat-smoked whiskey nip, soft dark-roasted espresso snip and sedate vanilla blip prompting ancillary almond, rum raisin, coconut and wet tobacco nuances. Perfect as crossover for lighter ale drinkers.
Stylistically thin barrel-aged rum spicing and iffy hop-toasted hazelnut flavoring downsize perfectly fine Hazelnut Brown Nectar Ale. Nevertheless, this ‘nutty twist to a European Brown Ale’ succeeds as a soft-toned crossover for lighter tastes dipping their toes into bigger beers (much like Innis & Gunn’s oak-aged subtleties). Hazelnut coffee glint reaches caramel nougat center as brown chocolate, toffee, vanilla and butterscotch illusions reach fruition above fig-soured raisin-prune conflux and caraway-seeded pecan-praline-chestnut nuances. Clean mineral watering abates wispy rum influence.
Politely dry-bodied ‘innovative ale’ with burnished chestnut hue retains lighter Extra Special Bitter profile. Subtly oak-aged vanilla, almond and coconut toastedness sweetens sharp hop spicing to mossy earthen bottom. Sedate orange oiling underscores ancillary rye wheat crisping. ’14 re-tasting on tap at Ginger Man, dry Scotch proficiency gave smooth English strong ale a more intriguing profile.
On tap at Barcade, choice Jim Beam bourbon-barreled version of Belgian-styled dark ale known as ‘Black’ brings smooth oaken vanilla soothe to Concord grape, black grape and black cherry fruiting as well as mocha-bound barley-oats toasting. Mild bourbon-burgundy wining provides overall warmth and elegance deepening black chocolate, espresso and crème brulee nuances ascending above ancillary black-peppered star anise spicing.
Insinuating oak-aged Scotch ale confection contrasts mellow oaken vanilla warmth against sharp 7.4% alcohol-whirred dark rum spicing and sweet whiskey temperance. Muted Merlot-brandy wining flutters by tobacco-roasted earthen-grained tea-like crisping, amiable butterscotch-caramel sweetness, subtle chestnut-pecan wisp and ripe grape nuances.
Venerable rye-whiskey barreled elixir combines all seven Jewbelation recipes for richly contoured complexity. Creamy whiskey warmth strikes early, seeping into boisterous chocolate-smoked vanilla malting and tenacious liqueur-soaked crème brulee sashay. Purple-red grape esters and black cherry ripeness strengthen tertiary bourbon-sherry illusions. Phenomenal.
