Tonight's beer: Heavy Seas Below Decks Cabernet Barrel-Aged (2012)
Deeply-toasted bread, rich with caramel, dipped in oaky dry red wine. Vanilla strongly present, as well as toffee, smoke, peat, earth. Grassy-floral bitterness dimly in the distance. Tightly-balanced between sweet and vinous-tart; grace notes of bitterness toward the finish as the beer edges gently toward dry.
Medium-bodied, a little on the soft-and-thick side; surprisingly well-carbonated, with a bit of chewiness and stickiness around the end. Some vinous pucker, a little hard around the edges; not much warning of the 10% ABV—just a prickle of warmth.
A delicious Barleywine that picked up some marvelous complexity from time in Cabernet barrels (and aged well for about a year in the bottle, I think). Intense as well as complex, beautifully integrated, though it's a bit of a malt-bomb (but a pleasant one). Gloriously drinkable, in a sipping-beer sort of way. Supple and subtle and graceful, and laden with yum.
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| Heavy Seas Below Decks Cabernet Barrel-Aged (2012) |
Deeply-toasted bread, rich with caramel, dipped in oaky dry red wine. Vanilla strongly present, as well as toffee, smoke, peat, earth. Grassy-floral bitterness dimly in the distance. Tightly-balanced between sweet and vinous-tart; grace notes of bitterness toward the finish as the beer edges gently toward dry.
Medium-bodied, a little on the soft-and-thick side; surprisingly well-carbonated, with a bit of chewiness and stickiness around the end. Some vinous pucker, a little hard around the edges; not much warning of the 10% ABV—just a prickle of warmth.
A delicious Barleywine that picked up some marvelous complexity from time in Cabernet barrels (and aged well for about a year in the bottle, I think). Intense as well as complex, beautifully integrated, though it's a bit of a malt-bomb (but a pleasant one). Gloriously drinkable, in a sipping-beer sort of way. Supple and subtle and graceful, and laden with yum.
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