If you'll remember, both my last encounters with barrel-aged beers and my last encounter with a beer from Flying Dog left a lot to be desired. I didn't much care for Flying Dog's Wildeman Farmhouse IPA, and Great Crescent's Bourbon Barrel Stout was cloyingly sweet to the point of being undrinkable. Here's hoping this beer can erase the bad taste of those two less than perfect experiences. I actually bought this beer a while ago. I've been excited to drink it but I've been waiting for weather that's a bit more appropriate. The recent drop in temperatures has had me looking for beers that are a bit heartier so this beer has been called up from the back of the fridge. Time to finally give this bad boy a look. to the beer!
Barrel-Aged Gonzo pours a silky inky black. You could be forgiven for thinking it looked exactly like black coffee if it weren't for that tall layer of rocky bubbly mocha colored head.
The aromas are just as great as you would expect from a barrel-aged imperial porter. Tons of rich dark roasted malt notes of dark cocoa and espresso with a very interesting hint of black licorice. Bourbon-like charred vanilla notes come out to play as well. There's also this nice, complex underlying sweetness.
The rich bourbon-like flavors hit right up front. Charred oak notes of caramel and vanilla mix beautifully with roasty dark chocolate sweetness. It's very full bodied but it doesn't feel heavy on the tongue, if that makes any sense. for as big and bold and crazy as this beer is it's actually balanced incredibly well. The sweet roasty malt flavors are met and balanced out by an equally strong hop presence. The bottle bills this beer at 85 IBUs and I believe it. A lingering hop bitterness mingles wonderfully with bitter espresso flavors. Adding to the complexity are a bunch of slightly tart, slightly sweet dark fruit flavors of date, plum, raisin. Those licorice/ anise flavors return as well.
I enjoyed the hell out of this beer. Dark, rich, roasty, complex, with a great balancing bitterness. High in ABV and flavor but eminently drinkable. If you can track down a bottle of this I highly recommend doing so.
HD
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