Tonight's beer: Deschutes Mirror Mirror (2014)
Starts with bready-nutty sweetness, laden with caramel and toffee and toast; dim and vague possibilities of butter, peat, and smoke. Earthy-grassy bitterness lurks in the background, sliding forward slightly as the beer evolves toward roundly gently dry by the finish. Flickers of dark spirits (whisky, rum, brandy) and vanilla in the aftertaste.
Round and full and slippery-smooth, gently-carbonated. A little heavier than medium-bodied, some bready chewiness and a trace of stickiness. Maybe a little warmth, but alarmingly little alcohol presence. Struggles to move toward drying, but doesn't get far.
This is a superb barleywine, one that has done well with more than a year in the bottle. Tons of flavor, just stupidly intense and complex; wonderfully balanced and gloriously well-integrated. Magnificently drinkable, in a big sipping beer way. It's a bit of a malt-bomb, appropriately for the style, especially with a little age on it.
I eagerly await Deschutes getting distribution where I live.
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| Deschutes Mirror Mirror (2014) |
Starts with bready-nutty sweetness, laden with caramel and toffee and toast; dim and vague possibilities of butter, peat, and smoke. Earthy-grassy bitterness lurks in the background, sliding forward slightly as the beer evolves toward roundly gently dry by the finish. Flickers of dark spirits (whisky, rum, brandy) and vanilla in the aftertaste.
Round and full and slippery-smooth, gently-carbonated. A little heavier than medium-bodied, some bready chewiness and a trace of stickiness. Maybe a little warmth, but alarmingly little alcohol presence. Struggles to move toward drying, but doesn't get far.
This is a superb barleywine, one that has done well with more than a year in the bottle. Tons of flavor, just stupidly intense and complex; wonderfully balanced and gloriously well-integrated. Magnificently drinkable, in a big sipping beer way. It's a bit of a malt-bomb, appropriately for the style, especially with a little age on it.
I eagerly await Deschutes getting distribution where I live.
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