Boulevard "Sugarwood Baklava" Imperial Brown Ale

The idea that Boulevard had of putting a brown ale - a brown ale - in barrels to age is a strange one. I'm not really a fan of most brown ales as it is, and I'm not sure this is going to improve matters at all. Now, I've learned to understand and like what barrels can do to a beer, but this really just seems like a strange combination of things to me.

What can dark brown do for you? I mean very dark brown. I have had beers that others would call black that have sported more brown than this thing. I guess it was probably a lot more brown before they tossed it into a barrel to age a bit. The barrel, as is typical, has all but robbed the beer of the ability to produce a head. The aroma is quite strong with alcohol as well as a pungent maple and brown sugar. This is no shrinking violet.

First sip is striking. Many beers with 10%+ ABV try to hide the alcohol behind a thick malt or a vibrant hop - even a distinct yeast. This beer, however, flaunts its alcohol on top of a plinth of maple. Wood and brown sugar are here in attendance, but the alcohol appears to be in charge, and everyone else is getting out of its way. It's not bad, but it could be tamed a bit.

Tip-in is brown sugar, wood, alcohol, and maple; shockingly, the alcohol doesn't start things off on top. The middle swells into a thick syrup as the alcohol leaps to the top and fills as much space as it can with the maple and wood getting joined by earth. The finish is a wash of alcohol suspended in maple before a woody, nutty trail off.

Bottom Line: Not for the feint of heart.

3.5/5