Like it or not, Thanksgiving is a distant memory. And if you haven't cleaned your fridge then chances are you aren't ready to let it go.

But go it must and in its place is the prospect of another Christmas, Kwanza, or Hanukkah. With this time of the year comes the prospect of bundling up, turn up the thermostat, or maybe lighting a long in fireplace. But like everything cliche, one must have a beverage to enjoy alongside that wave of warmth drifting across your person.

We attempted to answer this question by trying Widmer Brothers 2011 release of Brrrbon 2011 from their aptly named Brothers Reserve Series.

Our Thoughts
You Should Try It. All too often as we grow with a brewery we witness the heterogeneous evolution of a breweries beers. Beers that once stood out on their own now begin to taste the same, whether it's a Pale Ale or India Pale Ale. This is not one of those beers. Instead this is yet another beer from a brewery that makes us do a double take. Feeling festive while consuming a glass of this? Why not try some smoked turkey, bread dressing / stuffing, or pair this with a Pecan Pie.

Brewery Description

Barrel Aged Brrrbon ’11 is a smooth winter warmer and the first release in the Alchemy Project from Widmer Brothers Brewing. Beginning with a version of Brrr, the beer was given a fresh charge of hops during secondary fermentation and then put into Kentucky bourbon barrels and aged for four months. After months of maturation in the barrels, the beer was allowed a tertiary fermentation for final conditioning before release.

Ingredients

• Malts:
  2-Row Pale, Caramel 10L, Carapils, Caramel 80L, Dark Chocolate
• Hops:
  Bittering – Alchemy
  Aroma – Simcoe and Cascade
• Profile
  Original Gravity: 20.3P
  Apparent Extract: 3.4P
  IBU: 40
  Color: 22 SRM
  Alcohol by Volume: 9.5%

Featured in a 22 ounce hybrid silk-screen (and paper labeled) bottle, Widmer Brothers Brrrbon 2011 appears clear with a dusk red to an almost brown appearance. Poured straight down into the glass an inch and a half of foam forms before it recedes quickly leaving behind nothing in the way of lace.

Inviting us to take the recently released odors into our sinuses we detect notes of rhubarb citrus, hints of vanilla, oak, and even cherries.

Taking that first swallow you get a definite sense of butterscotch, crushed nuts, hints of pineapple citrus and a strong caramel malt stickiness. Overall Widmer Brothers Brrrbon 2011 provides a light to medium sensation of weight as it rests on the tongue and there is some residual stickiness.

Thoughts by your Colleagues
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/8/62040
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/widmer-brothers-reserve-barrel-aged-brrrbon/131549/

Cheers

In accordance with new FTC regulations regarding bloggers and endorsements, the aforementioned company has provided me a free sample that was used for research prior to writing this review.

About the photo’s author

Paul “Fruit Trees” Orchard, is an amateur craft beer enthusiast and amateur photographer. Throughout the many years in craft beer he is always carrying a camera (smartphone, digital, traditional) and is invites you to see that beer can also be exciting even if you can’t drink the photo.