New year - new blends. The other day at Sam's Quick Stop, John told me to take a closer look at the labels of the latest delivery of Brooklyn Monster ... "This Monster was born in 2007" WOW - 3-year-old barleywine! What a mouthful - and at a very reasonable price.
Tonight, I dug up a year-old bottle of Hopslam (no real point in aging that much longer anyway) and decided to blend the Monster with the Slam - KAPOW! A monster with some hop-kick to it.
I really like blends that totally change things - and this one turns (barley) wine into beer. After 3 years barleywine is not SO sweet anymore - it has turned into a heavy, syrupy, vermouth-y drink with some sweetness and alcohol flavors. The Hopslam is REALY bitter after a year, and when you blend the two the 'slam takes the barleywine back into beer-territory. The bitterness mellows out the alcohol and remaining sweetness and adds more complexity and kick to the "wine" character.
Very interesting, complex blend. And VERY potent. Whew!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
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