Carver Spring Elixir

pours brown, quickly dissipating head. nose is bourbon, with some kind of sweet undertone. taste is smooth, with huge bourbon hit, which pretty much dominates the flavor. this one tastes more like liquor than beer. that is not neccessarily a bad thing to me. i wrote this from my notes from FoBAB 2004. sometimes it takes me a while to catch up....

FOBAB 2004: Tarnished brass color. Oak, wood, twig flavors. Sort of sweet. Found this to have some spice: pepper, cinnamon. My lips hurt.

FOBAB’04: Golden bronze, bourbon nose is strong and takes over much of the character of the beer. vanilla and coconut aromas, woody and alcoholic as well. Thin but seemingly rich flavor, as if the bourbon’s sweetness covers for the thin malts of the lager. Smooth until the firey finish, seems as if some of the Woodford Reserve got splashed into the finished product.

Draught at the Festival of Barrel Aged Beers: light brown with a coppery shimmer…toasty aroma with sweet honey, bourbon, strawberries, cherries and vanilla. Strong candish flavours: sweet-tarts, bananas, and hard sugar candy. Sharp alcohol plays too large of roll in the finish and the palate is a bit thin, can’t fault them for trying…

Light bourbon aroma, slightly floral (from the maibock?) Darkened brown sugar color. Good distinction of maibock and bourbon flavor. It just isn’t tasty, thats all. A unique concept that almost works.