Rock Bottom Chicago Blitzens Woody

Festival of Barrel Aged Beers, Chicago 2005. I heard a few people say this was Rock Bottom’s challenge to Utopia, but I highly doubt this was there intention. There are some similarties, both are fairly flat and have notes of orange and orange peel, although RB is stronger. Pours a brown-orange hue with little to no carbonation. Thick of palate with spices including lots of orange, ginger, and nutmeg. Sweet! Must be all that candy sugar. Lots of toffee and butter-vanilla notes from the bourbon. Finishes with a strong alcohol note and bourbon barrel. Interesting stuff. Would like to try it again as this was consumed after the bourbon barrel barleywines I tasted. A bit reminiscent of Westy 12, but not as refined or complex. In some sense, there’s too much going on here. Would like to see this aged in simply oak barrels rather than bourbon.