Baby Steps (Barrel-aged, 2021-)

(330ml over-waxed bottle from a friend) Pours cola-coloured with a small but very stable tan head and spotty lace. Aroma of tart and jammy raspberries, raspberry vinegar, earthy roasted coffee bean, soft caramel malt sweetness, hints of green pepper. Flavour is lightly to moderately tart, dark bread and soft caramel with cooked raspberries, a little splash of raspberry vinegar, coffee isn't super-prominent early in the sip but builds towards the finish, earthy with drying neutral wood and soft tannins, very mineral and 'crisp' for the style, softly bitter as well from the coffee in the finish, green pepper from the nose thankfully absent. Light-bodied, touch watery for the ABV, with fine and filling bottle-conditioned carbonation.