Aroma: “Fruity esters—banana and cherry are strongest, but there’s a definite lemon edge. Some vanilla, some chocolate. Sweet, toasty malt along with a bit of Malt-o-Meal cereal. Some alco- hol tickles the nose. Pepper phenolic.”

Flavor: “A punch of sweet dark fruit (cherry, plum, prune, raisin) and some banana and malt sweetness up front quickly mellow to let some barrel shine through. Malt sweetness is cut with a lemony tartness. The fruit flavors are reminiscent of Raisinettes, which is never a bad thing. However, as it warms, this begins to come off a touch cough-syrupy because of the assertive spicy clove and pepper phenols.”

Overall: “Enjoyable. The big flavors in this beer blend well, but there’s an unexpected blend of lemon and vanilla for a quad. For some, the lemon and phenol won’t be pleasant together.”