Insanity
Many thanks to Aprilluvsbeer for sharing this with me. The strength present in this pint glass got my attention right away. The colour was a bronze / burnt orange with a sand coloured head that faded away slowly leaving sticky lacing on the sides of the glass. Nice. The smell is bourbon, wood, sweet malts, and earthy hops. It (the smell) was the first thing I noticed about this beer. Only seconds after a I removed the cap, the smell was already in the air enough to *get my attention*. Taste was pretty assertive. You really have to be expecting this to enjoy it. I wasn't at first, and had to step back and re-evaluate my "beer frame of mind" before I could continue. Almost like expecting a DIPA and when you take a big mouthfull in, it turns out to be a Baltic Porter. If you can imagine the shock you would feel under those circumstances, that's about how I was with this one. Expecting one thing, and getting something entirely different. The taste, while good, is loaded with alcohol, and like a rich piece of cake, I got enough of this pretty quickly. There are also plenty of sweet malts here, as well as the "cooked fruit" note many people get from Belgian Tripels. Mouthfeel was great. Nice and thick; certainly full-bodied. I love a brew that just feels heavy in your mouth, and this one is definitely heavy. At 11,1% abv, this is certainly a sipper. I'll probably be working on this single 12oz'er for 45 minutes. Thanks again, April, for this fantastic brew!