5. droid - Nefarious Villain
Idiotically I was thinking this was another of Grumpy's beers (I ended up with a few somehow) and realised pretty quickly this was no pale ale. To be brutally honest I don't think I appreciate this beer, and I'll call it as I see it.
A velvety head rests on the top of the tar just like it should. Immediately I'm hit with a bourbon-come-horse blanket and the tang of perhaps cherry? First thoughts were it was a cherry sour, but then after a few sips it's less sour and more bourbon, or whiskey. It has a glazed cherry 'slant', and each element seems to jump out separately. Like if I'm thinking of an element, I taste it (mind games taking over senses again). Aromatically I'm not getting anything sour so I'm doubting there is actually a sour component to the blend, and it might be the barrel taste coming through. Well I'm assuming it's been oaked, in either whiskey or bourbon. It's not "RUM IN YO' FACE" like an example I had at a previous swap but it's very much there. The cherry tastes dies off the further I get into the glass which makes me want it more, but oddly it gets more balanced as it warms up even though I'm wanting that cherry. Maybe it's my original perception of the sourness playing around with my judgement but I am enjoying it more after having more. I think I read something about fruitcake or plum pudding earlier and I get it, but it doesn't taste fruity to me.
As a package for mine it's just a bit 'too much', which to be honest is not unusual for me for an oaked stout. I mean cherry, RIS-warmth, bourbon, oak, I read it's a blend so I'm left wondering how each element might have tasted on its own. The bitterness however matches the rest of the glass and the carbonation is A1. Many thanks for the experience droid, I hope I can taste beers in the future because this has given my palate the middle finger.
That's me for the swap, thanks for all those who put in and would be great if the numbers were up there next time.