Yodeler Port Barrel Aged

Beer #4 of 17 (8 beers on either side of #8000 plus the magic 8000th itself) Deep, dark purple and violet tinted body with a muddied, brown glow and a very fast-dying off-white head that goes away immediately upon pouring. Aroma of super acidic and sour notes with some vinegar kick coming through at first and then giving way to a ton of fruits, pitted notes, some strawberries and a bunch of funk from brett notes with a light dose of chocolate at the back edge, but more of the fruits and malt components than anything else in the nose. Full-bodied; Strong sweet, rich and very funky, soured and bretty yeast qualities show through with a lot of vinous and more deep sweetness from prunes, plums and strawberries, but a bunch of funky yeast and dry oak or foeder notes are the strongest flavours here with some tannin notes and a mellow earth quality, but the sweet and especially soured/tart notes are by far the strongest. Overall, a very nice and super complex, relatively easy-drinking beer for the alcohol and style, given that the complexity is comprised of much more than just the tart flavours and the sweetness. A very nice beer and obviously worthy of keeping this for so long and of course as a celebratory beer. This was the fourth beer of my 8000th celebration which continued in a positive direction. I sampled this 50 cL bottle, purchased from BeerTopia in Omaha, Nebraska on 05-February-2018 for US$9,49 sampled at my house in Washington a bit more than two years later on 18-April-2020, as Beer #4 (of 17) of the 8000th Beer Celebration!

Bottle. Dark brown color beige head. Nice aroma of vinous plums and raisins. Taste is softly sour plums, dates in port wine. Best beer of the session.

500 ml bottle into snifter; no bottle dating, but is a recent release. Pours hazy dark reddish brown color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a good amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of huge raisin, prune, plum, fig, date, cherry, berry, apricot, mango, orange, apple, red wine, toasted oak, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, and brown bread; with lighter notes of chocolate, nuttiness, hay, leathery funk, pepper, vanilla, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness. Incredible aromas with fantastic complexity and balance of fruity/light funky yeast, wine barrel, and dark/bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of huge raisin, prune, plum, fig, date, cherry, berry, apricot, mango, orange, apple, red wine, toasted oak, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, and brown bread; with lighter notes of chocolate, nuttiness, hay, leathery funk, pepper, vanilla, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness. Light peppery Brett and tannic wine/oak spiciness; with slight tangy tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of dark fruit, cherry, berry, apricot, mango, orange, apple, red wine, toasted oak, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, brown bread, light leathery funk/pepper, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/light funky yeast, wine barrel, and dark/bready malt flavors; with an awesome malt/tart/spiciness balance, and zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Slight dryness from tart/tangy/spicy notes as well. Medium-high carbonation and fairly full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky, and slightly slick/acidic/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is awesome. Alcohol is extremely well hidden; a mild warmth with zero booziness lingering after the finish. Overall this is an insane Belgian barleywine style! All around incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/light funky yeast, wine barrel, and dark/bready malt flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV. Very rich and complex on Brett and malt flavors, without being too funky/sweet. Great wine barrel presence, without being too tannic/drying. A highly amazing offering.