Verboten No Ragrets

**Aroma:** “Fruity esters of pear or cherry with some dried fruit, creating a lighter, fruitier, surprisingly fresh aroma for a barrel-aged beer. Barrel aromas of bourbon, light vanilla, oak. Spices include cinnamon, holiday spices, clove, orange, juniper, and pine, with a hint of chile. Chocolate is present, along with some tobacco. Kind of hard to identify the base beer underneath.” **Flavor:** “The sweetness from the base beer helps to balance the spice characters of potpourri and cinnamon spice. The cherry and orange esters dominate, with some vanilla to smooth things out. Roasted barley and caramel, with some chocolate and Tootsie Rolls. There’s quite a bit of alcoholic and chile heat that detracts and helps to accentuate the phenolic and floral characters, putting them a bit over the top. The hops bitterness and roasted malt flavors add a drying finish to an otherwise sweet beer.” **Overall:** “For an in-your-face holiday beer, this is pretty good. The blend of spices and esters works but is subdued, and I really wanted more from the imperial and oak. It is subtle and tasty, even if it is light on the spicy notes. Nice chocolate and vanilla add fullness to the beer.”

Aroma: “Herbal. Pineapple and citrus peel but also a lot of grassy, wet, hay, and earthy hop aroma. Lemon, lemon grass, and a touch of bubblegum.” Flavor: “Great chewy balanced IPA, not overwhelmingly complex, but everything comes together nicely. The hops character leans toward grassy notes with a nice wet hay, tangerine, and lemon-tart quality. Finish is a little heavy, but bitter enough that it doesn’t come across sweet.” Overall: “Some citrus acidity makes this beer very refreshing. Leans to tropical fruits making this is a good introduction to New England-Style IPAs because it has all the attributes expected of the style.”

__Aroma:__ “A very apparent nuttiness on the first sniff, with a slight vanilla extract aroma and a slight alcohol burn. There’s a really nice roasted coffee character in the back, with some slight dark caramel and toffee on the nose. Esters of fruit, fig, raisin, and other dark fruits. A light spice, with an almost cinnamon-like note.” __Flavor:__ “The nutty character dominates up front, similar to a cherry pit with some raisiny tannic flavor. This gives way to light vanilla and almond, but quickly fades to a medium-high roast character of caramel and bread crust. In the middle, coffee notes support. The sweetness was pronounced and enhanced the dark-fruit esters.” __Overall:__ “The nutty amaretto character of the beer dominates, with needed roast complexity to balance. Thin body and high carbonation undermine the creaminess. The flavors didn’t quite run together, but rise and fall in isolation. The individual components are nice, but the beer needs a touch more roast and body to round things out.”