Sample at the Cheers MotherPuppers! - OJ’s Puppy Shower tasting on 08/04/2019. Clear reddish-amber color with a medium off-white head that diminishes quickly to a wispy film. Short strings of lace. Aroma of fruit, oak, yeast and malt. Medium body with flavors of vinous oak, fruity yeast and malt. The finish is Belgian yeast and malt. Decent overall.

Sampled from a bottle this beer poured an orange-brown color with a medium sized foamy tan head that left minimal lacing. The aroma was malty with honey, caramel, and a faint vegetal note. The flavor was malty with toffee, bread, a vegetal note and faint astringency. Medium length finish. Moderately full bodied. Alcohol well controlled.

Good to be No. 10. Bottle from Bruisin' Ales. Pours translucent dark ruddy orange with a transient near white head. Aroma of red berry, slightly roasty malt and perhaps kandi. Med + body. Flavor is mildly musty wood, red berry and pleasing roasty malt with a hint of kandi. Wood is only very lightly astringent. Moderately towards dry; somehow lightly bitter in a woody way. Pretty tasty.

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 11/24/2017. Pours fairly crystal clear deep orange/amber/light copper color with a 1 finger fairly dense and fluffy cream colored head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingering. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of raisin, plum, cherry, fig, date, peach, pear, apricot, melon, red apple, red grape/wine, peppercorn, clove, toasted oak,caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, and toasted biscuit; with light notes of banana, bubblegum, nuttiness, toffee, roast, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Very slight wine booze in the aromas as it warms. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of fruity/spicy yeast, candi sugar, dark/bready malts, and light-moderate red wine barrel notes; with solid strength. Taste of big raisin, plum, cherry, fig, date, peach, pear, apricot, melon, red apple, red grape/wine, peppercorn, clove, toasted oak,caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, and toasted biscuit; with light notes of banana, bubblegum, nuttiness, toffee, roast, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate herbal, floral, grassy bitterness; and peppery yeast/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of dark fruit, cherry, peach, pear, apricot, melon, red apple, red grape/wine, peppercorn, clove, toasted oak,caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, toffee, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/spicy yeast, candi sugar, dark/bready malts, and light-moderate red wine barrel flavors; with a great malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitter/spiciness. Medium-plus carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/grainy, and fairly sticky/tangy/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 8.5%. Overall this is a delicious barrel aged Belgian strong dark ale. All around nice fruity/spicy yeast, candi sugar, dark/bready malts, and light-moderate red wine barrel flavors; very smooth and easy to drink for the ABV, with the mellowly bitter/spicy/drying finish. Great balance of well rounded Belgian yeast complexity, sugars, and malts; with nice solid wine barrel presence/integration. Not a ton of barrel, but adequate. A very enjoyable offering, and well made style example.

Keg at Violet Crown Charlottesville. Hazy copper thin creamy head, good retention. Aroma of toffee Candi sugar bread, spice, apple. Taste is cherries, spice, bready malt, Cinnamon. Medium bodied, mild lingering spice.

Pour is a dark red with a large tan head. Aroma is plenty of red wine and the accompanying woody barrel. Flavor is some red wine vinouis with a bit of vanilla from the barrel. This leaves a nice smoky and woody feel on the tongue as this goes down. Not as sour as some red Belgians, this is all about the wood this beer rested on.