Abbeydale Last Rites

Commercial Description:
Cask; Regular (but not in continuous production).
Brewed only with pale malts and American hops, this is a pale, fantastically strong barley wine with tons of flavour. It is dangerously more-ish and some people have drunk far more than was good for them.
High A.B.V. beers have been described as "gimmick" beers, to be enjoyed only in small quantities for their hideous potency. They are also often dark - to hide the murkiness. This is not the case at all with Last Rites. Patrick set out to create a high gravity beer which was as pale as it could be, and truly drinkable.
Last Rites really IS a premium brew, unusually pale in colour and full of rich malty flavour to tease and satisfy the palate. At 11% alcohol by volume, Last Rites is more of a wine than a beer and its drinking should therefore be treated with the respect becoming such a solemn undertaking.
It is brewed only two or three times a year. Whenever we can it is lagered for 100 days to give time for the flavours to mature and develop. This gives an unusually smooth beer with strong tones of smooth subtle toffee and a hint of roasted sugar which doesn't overpower the full malt flavour base. The bitterness from the hops keeps the sweetness in check and allows the fuller spectrum of flavours to reach the palate without the cloying burning honey and acid effect of many high alcohol recipes.
In short, in spite of its fearsome alcohol content, Last Rites is a thoroughly delicious drink which has been brewed with every care for it flavour and potability.