Velvet Hammer
by Paul Arthur on Apr.21, 2009, under ale, barrel aged beer, beer, flanders brown ale, sour beer
Background: Purported to be the first in a line of barrel aged beers from the brewery, this bottle-conditioned Arbor Brewing product is a blend of a young Belgian-style ale with a three-year-old barrel-aged sour ale.
Nose: Indistinct dark dried fruit, strawberry esters.
Taste: Malty and earthy, with overtones of orange and light spicy phenols. Very, very light lactic sourness, and a light barnyard leather funk to remind us that our friend Brettanomyces came along for the ride.
Overall: If you happen to have two of the 240 bottles of this, I’d recommend cellaring one for another year or so to let the wee bugs do their work. It’s decent now, but some age should give it more complexity.
