Pure grapefruit this time with some malty depth out of the IPA glass. Don't pass up NvU for this.

Much better out of the Speigelau IPA glass. The piney bitterness of the hops come through. Also less sweet. Might have been the pairing of the food, Indian curry this time, but I think the glass played a large part.

Big grapefruit, maltier than I expected. I need to try a different glass. Sweeter than it should be at <8%. It's a solid IPA but maybe I'm just spoiled.

Holds up well but doesn't particularly benefit from ageing. Tastes the same as the 2018, which is to say excellent.

Unknown date of consumption. Forgot to record an entry somewhere.

Different than any previous year I remember. Smells like straight up whiskey, tastes like burnt caramel. It's not unpleasant but doesn't have the malty sweet richness I love. It's fresh, though. Needs some time to settle.

Has a woody hop character I didn't care for. A little softer than the non BA version. No heat at all but it's not particularly high abv for a barlyewine. Lower than the reg version??? Maybe don't age this one. Not worth the price at $25. #regret I've been consistently underwhelmed by Great Divide. They're just not aiming at my palate. Reg Old Ruffian at 1 year old is my jam, though.

Better now than at 3 days old. About 2 weeks out it hits its peak and sits there for a while.

Certainly no worse after a few weeks. Probably better.

Taste profile is cleaned up. Much more bitter, surprisingly so.

It's actually a bit too fresh. Smells amazing and explodes with good hops, plus it's smooth. But a little unfocused and seems like it needs to settle.

Pure grapefruit this time with some malty depth out of the IPA glass. Don't pass up NvU for this.

Much better out of the Speigelau IPA glass. The piney bitterness of the hops come through. Also less sweet. Might have been the pairing of the food, Indian curry this time, but I think the glass played a large part.

Big grapefruit, maltier than I expected. I need to try a different glass. Sweeter than it should be at <8%. It's a solid IPA but maybe I'm just spoiled.

Basically like drinking a Jack & Coke. Tons of whiskey flavor and aroma. No head or lacing to speak of but feels kind of rough in the mouth. I wish the carbonation was softer. Hard to speak to the base beer but it's plenty sweet and smooth in its own way. Just the right viscosity, too. It's not exorbitantly expensive so I have no regrets.

Holds up well so far. I have heard that strawberry drops off quickly in beer, but not yet. Really good, wouldn't mind if they brought it back every year.

Turbid. Smells great, like strawberry jelly. Maybe influence a bit by the actual strawberry jelly in my sandwich? Rhubarb comes across much more in the flavor. Took me a bit to parse the flavors, at first I was just expecting massive strawberry, then it seemed like it just wasn't a fresh fruit flavor. The rhubarb covers up a lot of the maltiness so it ends up tasting more like spritzer than beer. And at 4% you can basically drink it that way. Interested to see how much it will settle, although it's bottle conditioned. I can't put this up with Serendipity but I like it as much as the Belgian Red.

Pure grapefruit this time with some malty depth out of the IPA glass. Don't pass up NvU for this.

Much better out of the Speigelau IPA glass. The piney bitterness of the hops come through. Also less sweet. Might have been the pairing of the food, Indian curry this time, but I think the glass played a large part.

Big grapefruit, maltier than I expected. I need to try a different glass. Sweeter than it should be at <8%. It's a solid IPA but maybe I'm just spoiled.

Better now than at 3 days old. About 2 weeks out it hits its peak and sits there for a while.

Certainly no worse after a few weeks. Probably better.

Taste profile is cleaned up. Much more bitter, surprisingly so.

It's actually a bit too fresh. Smells amazing and explodes with good hops, plus it's smooth. But a little unfocused and seems like it needs to settle.

You know, it's still pretty good this time. Chocolate abounds and the barrel is still there. Has some legs yet.

The bourbon is back but it's not balanced particularly well anymore. Seems to be past its prime. Don't go past 2 years with this one in the future for sure.

Definitely smoothed out after nearly two years. Lost a lot of the bourbon, though, and the chocolate has gone over to the dark side. Still really good. Hard to say I liked it before because it is plenty smooth now.

Really tasty. Has a bite that I'd like to see smooth out, it's already a year old. Otherwise, it stacks up well against CW's BB stout. Pricey, though.

Like bourbon soaked cocoa powder. As good as I've ever had it.

It's nearly perfect. I wouldn't mind a little more viscosity but no complaints other than that. If it's truly 9.5% this is a marvel. And much better than the other 2016 batch. I can't remember which one I gave to Jen, I hope it was this one.

Wow. Chocolate much? So much richer than when fresh. Bourbon has mellowed a bit but more chocolate roast. Very, very nice.

Shared 3 ways, we each had a small pour. Drank with berries and cookies. I noticed more coffee flavors than I ever have with this brew. Holds up well against competing sour and sweet flavors. Best on its own, though.

Really good. Surprisingly good. Efficient. I could drink this on the regular.