“Great Odin’s Wolves!” I pronounced, “no need to gush! I’ll go see what all the fuss is about, just calm down a bit, eh?” However, by the time I actually got around buying a bottle, the shop had completely run out. Worse than that (though awesome from a business stand point) the rest of our wholesale stock had been sold back into London. Now, finally, I have managed to get my grubby mitts on a bottle. Tracked it down at Kris Wines, one of the places we sold a case to... This beer has been a long old way.
The first thing that hits you is the smell, don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty thing too, dark and murky in all the right places; but that smell, that rich, creamy, smell of toffee and caramel that is so indicative of a good barrel aged beer. It’s like crack for the nose (though I think that’s just coke... Which this isn’t.) It smells almost like a kind of soup you might find in the staff room at Willy Wonka’s. To call it intoxicating would be doing it a disservice, it’s as thick as fog and as sweet as free chocolate.
It tastes as good as it smells too! Rich with a mouth feel like a milky coffee and a raisin, biscuit and brown sugar sweetness, with hints of toffee and the occasional twang of bitter hops. It’s not overpowering, it’s not something that’ll put you under the table... Yes it’s 7.4% but you’ll want to savour this one, enjoy it, swish it around a glass, gargle it, which leaves no time for chucking it down you and getting hammered. This is a slippers and fireplace kind of beer, if it was still cool to smoke a pipe then you’d want one of those in on the act too.
Food suggestion: Most definitely a dessert beer. Enjoy this with any fresh fig based dish and you’ll be in for a winner I reckon.
Drink this if you like: Founder’s old curmudgeon, though it wasn’t barrel aged, its maltiness brought a rich sweetness that Chinook definitely possesses.
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