Harpoon Barrel Aged Triticus

10 oz snifter at the Sunset. Dark mahogany and almost opaque, with barely a whisp of foam at the rim. Faint crimson edging and no lacework to speak of. Aromatics are chock full of chocolate, vanilla, and bourbon. Strong fusels step forward and theres a trace of nostril clearing. Thickish and syrupy mouthfeel. Light carbonation and chewy. A blast of bourbon and chocolate up front on the palate. Vanilla, roasted malt, and fusel-laden alcohol quickly take over. Finishes with lingering bourbon, chocolate, and wincing fusels. Quite warming. Quite the massive brew. Subtle like a steamroller. The alcohol fusels are a bit much to take, but I like it. Too bad this ones not in bottles, as a few years might reign this one in a bit.

Bourbon barrel version. Draft at the brewery. I was told that this was the last keg of the bourbon barrel aged Triticus in existence. Pours an extremely dark, nearly opaque, mahogany brown color with a bubbly, frothy, tan colored head. Soapy spots glide down the glass and back into the body. The aroma is very malty, with prominent notes of molasses, burnt caramel, chocolate, and darkly roasted wheat. The bourbon influence is smooth and inviting on the nose, smoky oak and sour mash notes complementing the big malt profile nicely. A subtle, earthy, savory hop profile is there for balance. Flavors follow suit, ultra-smooth, smoky molasses and caramel inviting the bourbon’s toasty vanilla depth and warm, southern twang. The mouthfeel is big, chewy, and lightly carbonated, nearly perfect save for a bit of overbearing alcoholic heat. Overall, this is a fantastic, monster brew that I’m privileged to have tried.

Had this one at GABF in Boston, 6/21. I believe that for the tasting the beer was also dry hopped. Nice palate of flavors, including strong vinous notes, some buttery diacetyl, toffee, caramel, dark fruit, banana, bourbon, and slight herbal hoppiness. Strong alcohol presence. I would love to see how this one mellows out after a year of aging, but it was definitely worth a try. I’m not sure if this is the same triticus that I tried, as the one at GABF was 14.4% abv. Anyway, if you get the chance, try this one.

Name: Triticus - Buffalo Trace
Date: 02/09/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewfest, Extreme Beer

opaque brown, frothy head, rich malt and light bourbon aroma, thick body, rich malt flavor with lots of bittering balance, nice touch of bourbon in the form of an extra alcoholic burn,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.4/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

Draught samples at multiple fests, most recently at EBF ’07. Never added it to the database, but since KP did, I guess I’ll rate it
First of all, Triticus is a fantastic beer and was actually aged in 3 different barrels. I’m not a big fan of adding every god damned different barrel-aged version of every beer to the database, but FYI, they also did this in a Syrah-cabernet barrel and a gewurztraminer barrel.
The syrah was by far the best, the deep, rich, lightly tart red fruitiness of the wine really complementing the dark chocolate and dry wheat flavors of the base beer. While the bourbon barrel was enjoyable, mostly because the base beer was so enjoyable, I just don’t find bourbon to really complement beer unless used very, very sparingly. It definitely wasnt very sparingly used here, as the bourbon flavor was very strong, and there was a definite harsh, grainy tannin and alcohol flavor. Lots of molasses, spicy cinnamon and vanilla notes as well, but it all overpowers the base beer, which is actually a very elegant, delicate beer for its size. With warming, the chocolate and toffee notes of the beer emerged on the finish, with that lovely wheat smoothness and light sour/tartness, but the bourbon lingers as well, depriving the beer of a lot of its glory.