Granite Brewery Peculiar (Whiskey Barrel)

Formerly brewed at Granite Brewery (Toronto)
Style: Old Ale
Toronto, Canada

POurs mid amber with very nice notes of caramel and light vanilla toast. The flavor shows the nice malt notes and it finishes with some decent brown sugar notes. Outstanding beer.

Cask @ Volo Cask Days ’06. Copper body. Nose is butter, burbon, vanilla, alcohol, some fruit, brown sugar. Flavor is sweet toffee, some light burbon. well done.

Cask at Volo Cask Day 2006. Bourbon barrel aged version. Pours a very still ruby-brown. Aroma has nice woody bourbon notes, with a bit of smoke. Full flavour of sweet malt, woody bourbon, a bit of vanilla and a mildly hopped finish. Strikes a very nice balance between the beer and bourbon notes, which can be rare with this barrel aged beers.

A strong ale, though not particularly in ABV, with good borbon aroma. Sudsy head. Woody, bourbon taste dominates. On cask at Bar Volo Cask Day 2006.

Veyr good taste, left it for the end of the session. VEry smoked. Reminds me a little Old Peculiar from an English Brewery although sweeter and less dark. Also good foam.

Clear dark red-brown w/ frothy off-white foam. Sweet, malty, licorice nose w/ notes of wood & vanilla. Soft, medium feels. Sweet, malty, brandy-ish flavours w/ licorice, fruit, & wood notes. Dry finish.

Rerate: Cask at Volo Cask Day 2006. I have to rerate this as I much preferred this year’s barrel aged Peculiar. Pours a slightly hazy orange-brown with a small white head. Aroma: Wow, many bourbon beers are just too much but this smells quite nice. Some roastness, fruit, woodiness and hops. Nice flavour of sweet malt, mild bourbon, wood and hops. Medium bodied. This was surprisingly good, for once a beer where the bourbon is subtle. Very good!
Original rating:
6.2.6.3.12=2.9
Draught at Bar Volo. Pours a clear dark brown with auburn hues and no head. Looks pretty flat. Very mild aroma of wood, sweet malt and fruit. Sweet flavour of malt, wood, and alcohol -- could use more hops. After a while I found it overly sweet, almost cloying. Medium bodied. Based on the ratings it would appear this is much better on cask.

An example where whiskey barrel aging (in this example) has not benefitted the beer. In end, yes it has a little more wood and vanilla, the product is a watery lovechild of a decent beer. The sample at Volo cask days seemed better, but the competition was pretty unremarkable.