Pastry stout aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels – a variant of the regular Christmas Morning, the ‘gingerbread’ stout from this Virginian brewery, a multi-flavoured stout with typical American ‘Christmas spicing’ (involving, at least in this case, coffee, cocoa, cinnamon and vanilla). Comes from a stubby bottle of 355 milliliters, received as a gift from my friends Morgan and Lauren from Richmond, Virginia – thank you both so much guys! Thin but retaining yet opening, pale greyish beige, irregularly lacing, tiny-bubbled head on a black beer with thin mahogany edges. Intense and indeed ‘Christmassy’, spicy nose of coffee powder, pure black chocolate, clear bourbon but integrated well into the whole, raw cinnamon, cocoa nibs, vanilla both real and from oak wood, camphor or paraffin accent, raisin bread, ‘speculoos’, toffee, gingerbread made with a lot of ginger powder, Glühwein, Christmas cake, vague background notes of blood and shoe polish. Dense, concentrated onset, sweet but not sticky, candied dates, plum, very light porcini (umami) accent, with finely tingling effervescence (working well in a big stout) and full, thickly oily mouthfeel still maintaining a fairly high drinkability. Layers of smooth hazelnutty, thoroughly dark-chocolatey (enhanced by the cocoa) and toffeeish malt bittersweetness fill the mouth, in the end just a tad more bitter than sweet (luckily!) thanks to the coffee, the cinnamon and the bourbon, yet in spite of the added lactose, which nevertheless manages to keep things creamy. The finish is soaked in lovely vanilla-ish, spicy-warming bourbon and oak wood, along with considerable ginger- and cinnamon-like Christmas spicing (almost cardamom-like even). Quite an impressive, very rich and layered stout: you will have to be able to appreciate pronounced Christmas spicing, but then I endured many an overspiced Belgian Christmas ale in my time so this is not an issue for me – on the contrary, this one does the same desserty, decadent spicing in a big, bold U.S. style imperial stout context and does it well. The long shadow of Perennial’s barrel aged Abraxas looms in the background… A truly lovely stout, ‘baroque’ and excessive, yet at the same time managing to keep all those ingredients in the exact place where they belong, and maintaining high drinkability in spite of its heft. I was very impressed – and feel lucky to have another one left, because who knows what a few extra months of ageing could do to this beer…

Very hazy golden and perfectly straw coloured body wiht a nice two centimetre tall pure white head that's a bit too foamy and coats the sides of the glass on top of the 90 per cent opaque body - nice. Aroma of oranges, lemon zest, some dry and herbal hops with seemingly some nice bitterness along with a dash of grassy malts and some sweetness noticeable, in the nose, at least. Medium-bodied; Candy-like sweetness of oranges, apricots and white grapes shows at first with a lot of dry and herbal malts providing a nice backbone and ending with a pretty citrusey and bitter note from the hops, with a well-rounded profile that hits the crispness just right and also leaves trace amounts of sweetness, alcohol and bitterness in a good way for the style. Aftertaste is enjoyable and balanced nicely, with a good layer of sweetness, but the bitterness and candy-like fruit elements are great here and show well for the style. Overall, a very nice IPA that's seemingly a great blend of an Old and New school IPA with the hazy and fruit notes of course, but the bitterness, dryness and hoppy aspects are older school and enjoyable for anyone who likes good beer, period. Nice to sample locally and super fresh - a great beer! I sampled this sixteen ounce, pint-sized can, purchased from Wegman's [grocery] in Tyson's Corner (Vienna), Virginia on 23-December-2022 for US$2,33 (part of a mixed six pack), 'distorted' on 04-October-2022 and sampled at my house here in Washington on 19-January-2023.

Crystal clear deep golden and light copper coloured body with a nice two centimetre tall tan head that stays afloat for a while and really shows off zillion small bubbles below, in the perfectly clear amber tint. Aroma of super soft white grape juice with some light guava and lychee scents, but this is clearly all about the fruit, with not much malts here to speak of at all and no alcohol or sweetness - in the nose, at least. Medium-bodied; Somehow, a pretty rich malt body with a clean-drinking profile, with the super pungent fruit notes really coming through, as guava and even some mangosteen are noticeable, along with the deep grape flavours, all ending with a hint of alcohol and some sweetness. Aftertaste is slightly dry, but relatively easy-drinking, with a moderate sweetness, soft malts and a ton of fruit notes throughout - very nice and somehow working for such a big can! Overall, a very good product - much better than I was expecting and the tropically fruits of this, plus the clean malt bill makes this great and somehow I'm able to get the whole can down - I'd consider buying this one again! Great to sample super fresh and very local! I sampled this 19,2 ounce [TALL] can, can purchased from Total Wine in Potomac Yard (Alexandria), Virginia on 13-November-2022 for US$3,49, canned on 27-October-2022 with the tagline 'Party In The Back' and sampled at my house here in Washington a few blocks away on 06-December-2022.