So here we are at the end of another year. And what a great year it was… to drink! We were fortunate enough to be able to try a wide variety of beers, from locally, to domestically, to internationally brewed. A cats one will be forthcoming.
There must be some rules, or else I could include that beer I had two ounces of in the middle of a tasting that took place during a beer party. And no one really wants read about that or hear me sing early 90s rap songs.
So rules! The episode where we had the beer is linked to each beer below, so feel free to click and see how much Craig actually remembers. You can also check out what Ryan thought about this year in beer here and here. Bernie is one of my favorite milk stouts in Chicago, so when I heard there was a barrel-aged imperial version of it, I had to try it.
I was at first shocked by the Imperial Bernie really hides the alcohol well and supplements the base Bernie with some vanilla from the bourbon barrel along with caramel and toffee. By some I mean lots. A fine substitute for those that waited in line and struck out on Bourbon County as you could just go to the Noon Whistle taproom and pick up a bottle! Sooo many roman numerals here. What is this, Rocky? Moving away from the red ales of earlier Le Seuls, IV features a solera base beer that complements the peaches very well.
Cocoa powder is the most prevalent feature on the nose and the taste, but there are some bourbon notes there as well vanilla, oak in addition to the usual barleywine suspects caramel, toffee. Putting it all together, it becomes a fantastic dessert beer that would pair well with a wide variety of dinner finishers. Sometimes simple is better. Tart but not overly so, fruity but not veering into being a fruit bomb, Project Lo is a delicate and delicious sour beer. Drago, put simply, has all the qualities that make any of the above barrel-aged stouts — or any BA stout for that matter — good, with none of the hype and lines behind it.
