Name: Druid Fluid

Brewer: Middle Ages Brewing Company

Style: Barleywine

Vintage: 2008

Cellared On: March 1st, 2008

Original Tasting: March 21st, 2008 (or June 11th, take your pick)

Sometime back in March I started my first review notebook. If you looked at it now here in June, it’s page after page of beer tasting, all very neatly organized. Of course, I started this notebook AFTER my first tasting of Middle Ages brewing Druid Fluid, the notes of which I haven’t seen for over two months now. I really thought that I would have eventually come across them, but since it was now well in to JUNE I just had to admit defeat and accept that I won’t be seeing them again. Rather then pull one of my cellared brews out of the basement, I decided to just go out and buy one off the shelf to try. I’m pretty sure the tastings would match up fairly well.

Druid Fluid was a deep amber in the glass, mountain-lake clear with a dirty white head. Strong hops dominated the smell with grassy/piney notes very prominent. There was a sweet malt presence in the air as well, but it wasn’t nearly as strong as the hops.

Hops ruled the taste buds with this brew as well. There was a sweet and tasty malt base here, but it was playing a definite second fiddle to the hop flavors. This is a beer that could easily be mistaken for an aggressive double IPA. Very bitter and assertive with grassy and citrus flavors, the hops managed to keep the sweet malts away until just before the finish, where they joined together for a complex sweet finish.

All in all an enjoyable brew, not overly complex, but not at all bad to sample on an amazing June night.

Six Month Tasting - September 19th, 2008

There’s no mistaking this for a Double IPA now!

Six months of rest really helped this brew out. Bitter hop flavors were still in charge, but there was much greater harmony with the malty flavors then there were before. It was beautifully balanced.

I was getting a bit more citrus flavor from the hops, along with the piney notes that were there before. Tastes of fig and raisins gave complexity to the rich malts. It’s a sweet beer, but not overly so. Just a tad bit syrupy.

A little alcohol joined in on the finish, which lingered with sweet malts and piney hops. Delicious.

Cellar Outlook: This should cellar fairly well, although the lightness of the malt in comparison to other barleywines has me a bit concerned. Best case scenario is that the malty sweet begins to show some complexity as the hop flavors pull back.

Six Month Outlook: Six months were great for this brew, I think a full year has a good chance of being better. We should see the hops continue their pullback. Will even more malt complexity emerge? Here’s hoping.

Next Tasting: March 2009

Jason

jason@brewbasement.com

www.brewbasement.com