On draught at Lord Hobo, 1/10/14
Light copper-colored body, shows some sign of life, though the off-white head fizzles away immediately. High clarity.
Ample barrel character in the nose shows the gin botanicals and light grape influences. Some maltiness is apparent (light honey and caramel) while there is a touch of tartness. The more it warms, the malt breathes forth but the very strong gin note mixes with the plentiful fruitiness to give it a little more cohesion.
Strong herbal-alcohol flavor up front, almost like anise liquor, gives way to a soft maltiness of brown bread and caramel, while there is a touch of chalkiness that I associate with the wine barrel. Fruitiness emerges lightly on the finish, growing stronger as it warms. The gin barrel almost overwhelms the beer, but the malt backbone and curious yeast flavors (peaches, pears, strawberries, pepper) keep it from being too dominant. A well done beer, again, but the VERY low carbonation on these B. United barrel offerings works against this one particularly, I think, leaving the wood/gin/alcohol flavor too heavily on the palate.