Now on to the beer! Described on the bottle as Oak Barrel Aged Strong Ale I was expecting a whiskey soaked, heavy, very dark beer. Pleasantly surprised to find this beer quite light and delicately well balanced. Has a smokey aroma and you can get the smell of the treacle too. The colour is a dark burnt orange, again would have thought darker but there is obviously a careful balance of malts used which are listed on the label too.
There is a lovely sweet but delicate fruit flavour at first tasting. For the brew they rehydrated raisins and cherries in 10 year old port and added this to the whiskey barrel aged beer! This precise and careful attention to detail is what I would expect from Wicklow brewery having tasted some of their other fine beers (can't wait for aurora ipa next year). As the beer warms up (admittedly had it a bit too cool at first) you start to get the warmness of the alcohol from the whiskey and the smokey flavours from the oak barrel. This beer has a smooth mouthfeel and a slight tartness in the aftertaste. Bags of flavour to this beer and I can't wait to try my next bottle... serve at room temperature is Jason's (head brewer) advice. I will definitely heed this advice! If you can find a bottle of this and I wish you luck as there are only about 1000 bottles, get your hands on one!
I believe there are big plans next year for a range of new beers from this brewery including some more barrel ageing! Keep your eyes peeled and also get down to Redcross to visit the brewery and taproom! They have glamping accommodation onsite too so would make a good long weekend.
Cheers - The Beer Hopster
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