Being as it's Tuesday, I headed to Oakshire tonight, as I often do, to catch their weekly new beer release. It's a great feeling - never quite knowing what to expect. This week's happened to be astonishing.
You see, tonight Oakshire released a Knob Creek-aged version of their Patriot Porter. The unadulterated porter came out early this year. It was an acidic, rough-hewn take on the style that I found, at the time, unremarkable. As it turns out, barrel-aging is exactly what it needed.
As a bourbon barrel-aged beer, it's now got a fantastic molasses/caramel sweetness contrasting with the wooden notes of the barrel, which blends very well with the acidic malt profile - now mellowed with age.
It weighs in around 7%, but tastes and feels quite a bit stronger. The difference is in the finish. Most bourbon-aged dark beers tend to be north of 10% - and this is felt in the alcohol heat, which often lingers some seconds after the sip. This Patriot, however, has a quick, nigh-clean finish that invites further exploration.
Although the also-worthy Very Ill-Tempered Gnome is also on offer, I feel that this aged Patriot is the superior beer for the cold, rainy weather we've recently been having. I'm not sure how long it'll last, but it's well worth the visit to Oakshire to check it out. It's $6 for a 13oz pour.
No comments:
Post a Comment