
First sip is overpowering. Is it possible that this is managing to overpowering itself? It definitely has the punch of a beer that has been augmented with the addition of rum or aged in whiskey barrels or had Scotch added or something like that. I see no mention of it on the label, but I can tell you what I taste - and that is the addition of a heavier liquor than this beer should have.
Tip-in is sweet and caramel with the malt and the grains setting up the beer with a lingering carbonation tingle. The middle is barley and what tastes like berries and oak. It's not bad, but it just comes off as strange for some reason. It's like the bark of a cherry tree in a glass of ground barley. The finish puts a cap on the barley and has a slight bitterness underneath that sweet malt.
Bottom Line: I've certainly had worse, and this seems to be getting better as it gets a little less cold in it.
3.0/5