Uiltje: Analogue Recording (Netherlands: American Strong Ale: 13% abv)
Visual: Very dark red to brown. Floating sediment. Large browned tight bubbles head.
Nose: Pepper and crackers. Make spirit. Lime cordial. Vanilla. Sultanas.
Body: Smooth. Brandy cream. Fruitcake and cherries. Dry red wine. Port soaked raisins. Bready notes. Rye crackers. Light make spirit notes. Peppery.
Finish: Cake sponge. Glacier cherries. Sultanas. Madeira. Almond rounds. Light bitter and oily hop character. Orange zest. Light charring. Peppery. Rye crackers.
Conclusion: Imperial Red? Ok, that makes sense, from the flavor I would have guessed a Rye Wine (A barley wine with rye), but yeah Imperial Red makes sense as a description for this.
As you may have guessed from the above, the initial elements are barley wine like – fruitcake and cherry notes, extra sultanas – a mix of sweet notes and dried fruit characteristics. Considering the whisky barrel aging it instead seems to have a lot of vinous notes and other spirit characteristics – dry red wine and brandy cream character being the most evident. It is a mix of sweet, dry and just lightly cloying sour touches, matching the base well.
The actual whisky aging influence seems more subtle – it is shown in the extreme smoothness of character and in a light make spirit yet smooth character in the background of the entire beer. As time goes on the final element comes out – the peppery, rye cracker notes that makes me think of a rye wine – savoury, spicy notes that ground the beer hard.
As time goes on it almost rye bourbon styled with peppery and rye notes matched with orange zest hints. This is initially appealing, but it can get a bit too much by the end as the peppery notes dominate – however the journey to that point is very enjoyable. So, very good for the most part – starts well, ends slightly weakly. Still you enjoy getting there – a beer that is about the journey, not the destination.
Background: This was the last bottle on the shelf when Chris from Independent Spirit asked my if I had tried it – when I answered no he encouraged me to grab it before it was gone. The entire staff of IS seemed impressed by it, so I decided to give it a go. The bottle calls it an Imperial Red – to keep some standardisation in my tagging I have gone with ratebeer’s label of “American Strong Ale”, but Imperial Red definitely describes it better. This has been barrel aged in Carsebridge whisky barrels – a now deceased grain distillery. Never tried the whisky, I think, so not 100% sure what to expect from the aging. Drunk while listening to the new Propagandhi album – Victory Lap -a good album, that seems almost more resigned than their previous albums, or possible just more introspective – another one that I feel I need a few more listens to get to grips with. Enjoying on the surface level though.
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