Olde Hickory Irish Walker

This is another bottle I picked up when Jo and I visited Asheville. Saw it was a barleywine and knew I had to have it. Since I'm trying to not stock up too many things, it went right into the refrigerator when we got home.

I was looking for something a bit sweeter and took a chance that this was more of an English style barleywine and boy was I correct. For those that don't know, there are two general types of barleywines: Enlgish and American. Just like a lot of other beer styles, American style barleywines are very hoppy and similar to double IPAs but with a higher malt bill giving them a real backbone. Meaning they have a hop character, but there is a bit more going on than just that. English style is generally sweet and fruity with the hops there for balance and not to be noticeable.

With that, back to Irish Walker. Wonderful nose. Sweet with notes of raisins, plums, and an almost port like quality. Medium to thick body which is how I like this style. Makes you feel like you are drinking something with heft and helps hide the alcohol. Started with caramel, a slightly burnt, almost smoky character, and then moved into the fruit with plums and raisins. Finally finished with a light touch of chocolate and a little more smokiness. For what I was looking for that night, this was just lovely. So many complex flavors that blended super well and just the perfect amount of sweetness. Solid barleywine and real glad I picked it up.

Absolutely Awesome Stout Tasting

Before attending the Troegs Splinter Black release, I was sent a message on BeerAdvocate asking if I'd be up for trading a bottle to a local in Philly.  I said if I got some extra bottles, we could work something out.  However, after seeing what he had to offer we both decided that instead of trading for more bottles to sit on our shelves, lonely and undrunk, it would be a lot more fun to get together and do a tasting where I'd bring a bottle of Splinter Black and he'd bring some stuff.  It may seem odd meeting up with a total stranger, but I'm an odd guy so it evens out.  We met up at The Belgian Cafe just before Christmas to ensure that neither of us was a crazy murderer and, after realizing we were both relatively normal (well, almost normal), decided to do the tasting some time in January.

We talked a bit more after Christmas and came up with the date of January 15th.  He invited a friend of his who also lived nearby and after a few more messages we decided to make it a stout tasting.  For this one, we were doing it at my apartment.  They arrived around 3:15 and, lo and behold, his friend Josh turned out to be one of the random guys we met on the way to the POPE during the Craft Beer Express.  I honestly couldn't believe the coincidence.  Just really random.  We quickly set out the six bottles on the table and couldn't wait to get started.

From left to right, we had: Olde Hickory The Event Horizon, Olde Hickory Hickory Stick Stout, Big Sky Ivan the Terrible, Surly Darkness (finally!), Troegs Splinter Black, and Dock Street Prince Myshkin.