The Lost Abbey King of Tyre

I'm back on the Rare Beer Club train, my wife having re-enrolled me for it for my birthday last month.  And one of the brews from my first duo was the King of Tyre, a blended, barrel-aged barleywine from The Lost Abbey.  The 12% ABV brew pours a dark, cola brown with a light tan head and smells of molasses, caramel, and a little bit of oak and booze.  The flavor is a slightly creamy and slightly roasty mix of berries, vanilla, caramel, and some notes of booze.  It was a wonderful dinner beer.

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Whitestone Rated R

There's a lot going on right now.  A lot.  I found myself fighting an oncoming panic attack every other day.  At least i'm drinking more.  Anyhoo, Cedar Park's Whitestone Brewing recently released an insane blended brew called Rated R (the R stands for Ridiculous).  The beer is concocted from 6 different barrel aged brews, as follows:

1. Melted Snowman (winter warmer) aged in Treaty Oak rum barrel for 5 months.
2. Slappin' Da Base Russian Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrel for 12 months.
3. Lovely Day IPA aged in Treaty Oak rum barrel for 27 months.
4. 1431 Amber Ale aged in Madeira wine barrel for 27 months.
5. Boondoggle Brown Ale aged in Buffalo Trace bourbon barrel for 29 months.
6. A different batch of Boondoggle Brown Ale aged in Buffalo Trace bourbon barrel for 29 months.

The 10% beer pours brownish black with an off white head and smells of rum, oak, and vanilla.  The flavor is a complex and boozy mix of rum, bourbon, and oak along with notes of dark fruit, malt, and maybe a hundred other things.  The dark ale is probably not for everyone, but i found it to be delicious and unique.

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