Dead Man's Hand Aquavit

[Viv]

DEAD MAN'S HAND AQUAVIT 

Barrel (Aquavit ) aged Russian Imperial Stout, from Het Nest, with an ABV
of 10.0%. New brew for me.

Pours jet black with just a tinge of burgundy, with a large frothy bubbly
and creamy head. Some lacing.

Aroma of burnt malts, oatmeal, baking powder, coffee, mocha and chocolate.

It's thick and oily, and nicely carbonated. Smooth, creamy and luxurious
taste and texture. At its coldest there's lots of burnt malts, oatmeal,
baking powder, coffee, mocha and dark chocolate. Quite dry and with a bitter
finish too. However, as it warms the Aquavit takes over and then dominates.
I don't know whether it simply hadn't aged too well, being 6 months past its
"best before date". So although it is overall balanced, complex, and with
great depth of flavour unfortunately it has now become a bit one-dimensional
with the herbs and spices from the Aquavit, especially caraway, fennel and
cardomom predominent, along with a more hoppy profile, and finish. Good
stuff, but maybe a bit disappointing.  Definitely no improvement on the base
beer! 

Cheers!



Viv

[Trappist]

Definitely no improvement on the base beer!

Hi Viv,
6 Months past its best before date really could affect this beer I think.
I wonder when it actually has been bottled ?
But it is quite a shame that it is not an improvement on the base beer.
All too frequently this happens with barrel ageing. That freshness of the base beer disappears too, and barel ageing always makes a beer not tasting that fresh anymore.
I think barrel ageing isn't an easy task, and asks for fine tuning and ALOT of patience. I'm not an expert BTW

Great write up Viv,

Cheers,
Filip

[Viv]

Hi Filip,

Very few barrel aged beers are an improvement on the base brew.

And why should adding whisky, bourbon, etc, etc to the base flavour
necessarily improve the beer anyway? Unless of course you like
spirit-flavoured beer! Turning it round will we have lager flavoured
whisky soon I ask...?

I suppose it's just a trendy business model. Brew a batch of beer,
stick it in a barrel for a few months, bottle it, and then sell it at ten
times the price for the base beer!

Novelty has taken over the world! Look at the number of flavoured
spirit drinks there are now!

Cheers!


Viv

[Trappist]

Very few barrel aged beers are an improvement on the base brew.

Hi Viv,
When I think of improvement, I'm thinking of the Westflanders sour ales like Rodenbach, and also the barrel aged Oude Gueuze style.
Ofcourse it is pleasant if a Stille Nacht for instance has been barrel aged. Gives more winy wood, tannins, lacticity and more complexity.
But indeed those bottles go at €20.00, which is not precisely a cheap buy.
There is also the techniques of oaking and spirit infusion.
Oaking makes the beer more complex and heavier on the stomach. Kasteel dark is typical example, or Cornet to give another example.
Whisky infused beers are becoming very widely available over here with Gouden Carolus whisky infused as a great example.
Actually, not really that bad beers if you ask me.
It is not that I'm 100% against barrel ageing, infusing, or oaking. It gives more variety to the likes of beer lovers wanting them "so called" upscaled beers to their flavor preferences.
Cheers,
Filip