8.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, best before 5/17/2016. Pours slightly hazy/cloudy golden orange color with a 1-2 finger dense and rocky off white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice dense soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, apricot, mango, lemon zest, orange peel, pine, honey, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, toasted oak, caramel, bread, floral, grass, light coconut, and oak/toasted earthiness. A touch of barrel booze appears as it warms. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of juicy citrus/tropical/pine hops, bourbon barrel, and moderate dark/bready malt sweetness; with great strength. Taste of huge grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, apricot, mango, lemon zest, orange peel, pine, honey, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, toasted oak, caramel, bread, floral, grass, light coconut, and oak/toasted earthiness. Moderate pine/citrus rind bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes of grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, apricot, mango, lemon/orange rind, pine, honey, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, toasted oak, caramel, coconut, and oak/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of juicy citrus/tropical/pine hops, bourbon barrel, and moderate dark/bready malt sweetness; with a great malt/bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness balance; with zero cloying sweetness or astringent hop flavors after the finish. Light-moderate dryness from bitterness/oak spiciness, increasing through the glass. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/sticky, fairly resinous, and slightly silky/slick/syrupy balanced mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is well hidden with light warmth lingering after the finish; with slight barrel booziness. Overall this is an outstanding barrel aged DIPA! All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of juicy citrus/tropical/pine hops, bourbon barrel, and moderate dark/bready malt sweetness; very smooth and easy to drink for the big ABV. A highly enjoyable offering.

7.1

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

14th August 2016
Hazy deep gold beer, good cream colour head. Bourbon and vanilla on the nose. Palate is smooth, mildly dry and has decent fine carbonation. Sweetish malts into sweetish fruity bourbon. Mild vanilla. Mellow marmalade hops, a little pine. Smooth bourbon finish. Nice beer but like the Eureka version, the base beer is getting a little swamped with the barrel aging.

8

I am not a fan of Breckenridge in general. Loved their Vanilla Porter and the regular 471 Small Batch DIPA. So when I saw this at Liquor