Backburner (Imperial Barley Wine Style Ale)
Dark and cloudy, can't really see anything. It's not black though, there is some brown coloring going on. The head is a strong, mocha layer of foam about 1/2 inch thick. Gorgeous streams of lacing coat the side of my glass. Pretty stuff. At first I thought there wasn't much going on in the aroma, but I realized that there is a lot of balance and complexity going on. There is no "over-powering" scent, everything is in subtle balance. Overall, pretty fruity with some darkness going on too. Sort of like plums, rum, raisins topped off with a bit of clove for good measure. The taste was more bitter than I expected, heavy hops upfront. In the back of the flavor is where the dark fruits and similar tastes hide out. There is a quick, but mellow transition from bitter to sweet and tart. I found the slightest hint of lavender mixed in as well. Kind of heavy on the roasted malt taste too. This was pretty heavy, pretty boozy too. I feel like it's an excellent beer, but I don't feel the fruitiness came out as much as it should in this style. Actually, this tasted more like an imperial stout than a barley wine.