Oskar Blues Dales Pale Ale (Whiskey Barrel)

Brewed by Oskar Blues Grill & Brew
Style: American Pale Ale
Lyons, Colorado USA

Cask. Aroma is dominated by the whiskey and wood. Body held up to the barrel and the flavor is pretty good. A lot of bourbon and oak. Strange, not much pale ale left, mostly whisky. Whiskey flavored beer, Dales lovely hops are gone, which may have been strange if this was hoppy so this is a draw.

Nice aroma of caramel malt, sweet whiskey. The color is a chestnut brown/amber color, white head. The flavor is caramel malts, citrus, and a strong component of whiskey. The finish is a citrus hoppiness, and a whiskey warming. Mouthfeel was slighly short of medium. Decent, not bad. The effect of the whiskey barrel here is simply like dropping a shot of whiskey into Dale’s Pale, like drinking a boilermaker.

Cask at Rattle N Hum. Amber pour with a thin white head. The nose is loaded with sweet bourbony notes. Fresh and fairly chewy with a lot of vanilla and a kiss of oakiness as well. Rich and chewy with a nice lingering sweetness. It’s not over the top at all and the boubon just pops out without imparting any boozy quality. The hops have mellowed significantly and the beer appears substantially sweet as a result. Quite chewy on the finish, but I thought it was a solid effort.

Cask at Rattle ’N’ Hum: Very hazy deep amber brown with a bubbly tan film of head. Sweet oak aroma- some vanilla bourbon notes mesh with toasted oak chips (the hops are gone). Slick body, a bit vacant in texture. The flavor is soft with some toasted marshmallow and subtle oak. Fairly dry without much bourbon sweetness or booziness. The barrel has faded the hops, but it remains somewhat balanced even in their absence. The base beer fresh is superior.

Location: Cask at Rattle ’N’ Hum, 9/13/09
Part of the Gotham Cask Festival

Aroma: Citrus, pine, caramel, with some nice oak, whiskey, and vanilla in there as well
Appearance: Hazy orange-amber color
Flavor: Balanced flavor, the barrel aging has mellowed the hoppiness, whiskey, citrus hops, sweet malts, vanilla
Palate: Nice mouthfeel with a bit of a whiskey burn
Overall Impression: I found this beer to be quite good, and it seemed to be a big hit at RnH, as everyone else I talked to seem to really enjoy it too. Quite a nice whiskey barreling, not over-the-top whiskey to the point of ruining the beer as I have found previously with some of the whiskey-barreled beers that I have tried. This one was really nicely done.

Draft. Pours an amber body with a light bubbly head. Whiskey and vanilla with a woody sawdust like body but not particularly particulate, if that makes any sense to you. Mildly harsh finish with an abundant drying whiskey sweet flavor. Interesting, i would probably had another but there was so much to try.

Tried at Alesmith tasting bar. Thanks smokepot23! Sweet malty, buttery, oaky mellow and delicious. Easy to drink.

Name: Dales Pale Ale, Oaked Aged
Date: June 28, 2009
Mode: Draft
Source: Brick Store Pub
Appearance: hazy burnt orange, frothy off white head, drippy lace
Aroma: light hoppy aroma, dry caramel
Flavor: sweet caramel and oak flavor, citrus hops, plenty of oak along with the bitterness, sweet bourbon and vanilla emerge as it warms, long bitter finish
Overall: I was expecting bourbon to overwhelm this beer, but it turned out to be balanced enough to handle it
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4