Name: Insanity

Brewer: Weyerbacher

Style: Barleywine

Vintage: 2007

Bottled On: December 8th, 2007 (Date printed on case)

Cellared On: March 21st, 2008

Original Tasting: April 26th, 2008

Every year, Weyerbacher takes a portion of their Blithering Idiot Barleywine and age it oak bourbon barrels before bottling. And since I’ve enjoyed aging Weyerbacher’s Blithering Idiot Barelywine it was only natural that I’d try cellaring the oak-aged one, which is called Insanity.

Insanity is a deep, dark, cloudy orange. When I hold the glass up to a light I can see a whole bunch of yeast floating around in it (my wife wanted me to make an off-color joke here but I’m resisting). Powerful smells came from my glass. Sweet malts and oak dominated, but there was plenty of ripe dark fruit and noticeable alcohol present.

Even taking just a single sip, the oak flavor comes in with a vengeance. The oak hits you right after the first bite and lingers on the palette well after the brew finishes. This brew is really sweet as well, with the malty flavors provide a ton of complex dark fruit flavors (figs and dates mostly). There’s also a noticeable, almost subtle background bitterness that really matches the flavor of this brew well. A big alcohol burn comes in on the finish (definitely some fusels here), joining the oak and sweet malts flavors.

One heavy, powerful, and complex beer, a definite sipper for sure.

Six Month Tasting: October 13th, 2008

Same oak flavor. Same delicious dark fruit flavors. Same powerful sweetness.

Where’s the booze though?

The alcohol burn is pretty much gone now. I got a little bit of a warming sensation on the finish, but it was pretty subtle when compared to what I experienced before.  It’s a definite improvement, and helps the drinkability of this brew quite a bit.

Cellar Outlook:  With the magic combo of high alcohol (11.2% ABV) and bottle-conditioning, this brew is bound to hold up well. Insanity also has a lot of flavors that need a bit of cellaring to “calm” down a bit in my opinion, especially the hot fusel alcohols that were burning me on the finish.

Six-Month Cellar Outlook - Now that the alcohol is starting to calm down, let’s see if the oak or sweet flavors will fade a bit next.

Next Tasting: March 2009

Jason

jason@brewbasement.com

www.brewbasement.com