Initial 6/1/12 rating: 12 oz bottle. Now this is an interesting blend. As far as the components go, Adam and The Stoic are really good beers on their own. Both of them are tasty, well-made beers that I remember enjoying, but not being floored by. Fred is a beer on masterpiece level that makes my top 5 of all time (top 2 maybe?). As for The Dissident, I thought it was nasty stuff when I drank it fresh. I haven’t had a chance to try it after the recommended "Best After" date, though. What will happen when they’re all thrown together and barrel-aged? Aroma consists of sour funk, wood, dates, cherries, caramel candy, cheese. Pours cloudy brown with a small beige head that leaves a little lace; collapses pretty quickly into a collar of foam. Taste is sweet, sour, meaty and leaves a dry bitter and sour finish. I taste leather, licorice, cherries, wood--the wood is strong. Body seems pretty full, carbonation soft, mouthfeel syrupy. So the sum is better than most of the parts. It tops three of the components, but I’d rather have straight Fred, thank you very much. I have another bottle to age and I will re-rate after 4/30/13, the recommended "Best After" date. 9,3,9,5,18=4.4



5/26/13 rating: 12 oz bottle. Pours an ugly murky brown with a small collapsing beige head; leaves a collar of foam and a bit of lace. Aroma consists of caramel, raisins, plums, coconut, wood, booze. barnyard funk. Taste is an interesting blend of sweet, savory, and sour--it’s really woody with strong coconut and caramel notes mingling with sour dark fruit flavors. Somewhat soft carbonation, full-bodied. This is still super delicious, but the aroma and appearance aren’t quite deserving of what I gave them a year ago. It’s still an extremely interesting and tasty sipper. 8,2,9,5,18=4.2. Oh hell, let’s stick with a 3 in appearance. "4.3."

Bottle from The Davis Beer Shoppe. Pours dark clear amber with a slight creamy beige head. The most delicious complex aroma I’ve had for a long time. Chocolate. Red wine. Light pitted fruit. Oak. Vanilla. Think the Dissident is strong in this. Near full bodied. Flavor is oak, wine, vanilla, touch of toffee, light pitted fruit. Heat is a pleasant adjunct. Think there’s a bit of chocolate, but I may be confused by the pinot barrel. It arguably finishes a bit sweet, and bitter isn’t really in it, but there’s something cutting down the malt. Maybe there’s more oak than I thought. This is really, really good. Edit: It’s not chocolate - it’s cherry!