Barrel Aging became popular among home brew enthusiasts a few years back. Once the micro-brew people started doing all the neat stuff the home brewers did, the home brewers had to come up with stuff they would not do. Aging is ticking away more profit, so for a while it was the domain of a few, now it is mainstream with the addition of Sam Adam's Barrel Room Collection. There are 4 types overall, but I was drawn to the Stoney Brook Red because... well I love red ales.
I guess I was expecting the kind of ruby red liquid that I saw in Arrogant Bastard, but surprisingly this brew was closer to a brown until you shown light through it. It left an offwhite head that dissipated rather quickly. The bottle is a special shape and holds about 1 and 1/4 of my mug there. The top is corked like champagne, complete with the cage wire twist. The beer is nowhere near as carbonated as champagne though, so you might have to pull on it a bit to make it "pop" out. The smell is of a really great red ale. I've had several of Sam Adam's variations of red ales, and they all had the characteristic "Sam Adams" in them, but this one does not. Its much more like a great beer-pub red ale. On the tip of the nose you will start to get the rich fruit, but the high alcohol content hides it a bit.
It was only a few years ago that these beers would not be allowed in the state of Georgia. There was a hard line drawn at around 7% alcohol, I believe, and politicians said that old drunk men wouldn't be able to handle harder stuff and would end up driving without realizing how much they had drank. Enough local history though, there's more to this beer than the alcohol. This is like a lambic mixed with a really really good red ale. Again, someone has made my perfect red ale and added "other" stuff to it. Arrogant Bastard would be perfect with less hops and this would be perfect without the fruit. Anyway, if you like lambics and strong red ales, you'll like this.
The taste at the start is of dry, plum and raisin red wine. Half way through a mouthful and you'll be inundated with these flavors, which then turn back into a red ale with a sour finish(sour in a nice way). After half a mug, and some time for the alcohol to settle, the plum and raisin sour will turn into very sweet black cherries, and the bread undertones of the beer will blossom. This is the sweet spot of drinking this beer. The mouthfeel is effervescent and would keep a clean finish if not for the characteristic sour that reminds me of a lambic so much.
I loved it. Its really good beer if you like the style.
Aug 12th, 2014
When it rains it pours, both good and bad. The weather isn't lightening up from what I can see. I'm pretty emotionally exhausted these days. There are things I don't want to talk about here, but they're the majority of what is going on in my life, so this lower half may be sparse for a while.
I will be getting a haircut this week. This is becoming a weird, rapidly increasing occurrence. Its almost once a year now.
I have a weird disposition for simple sandwiches lately. Like, only enough sliced turkey or chicken to taste and a slice of cheese.
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