by Mike » Sun Aug 28, 2005 10:21 am
Obviously, a great little trip Brewer! Surely there is a place in heaven for 'road trips' (both short and long), cask conditioned ales, bourbon, low country boils, steamed oysters, and all the other wonderful taste experiences we have here in this mortal realm.
I have never tried bourbon barrel aged beer before. In fact, I don't remember ever hearing of it before except on BE. I would love to try it sometime. Who knows, with so many used bourbon barrels laying about, maybe it will become commonplace.
I love the name 'Hoptical Illusion'. I vaguely remember from somewhere a beer called 'Hop You Like It' (btw, there is a small town in GA named Hopeulikeit).
HI joins that long, long, list of interesting names given to beers. The Flying Dog Brewery out in Denver has some with its 'Tire Biter Ale' and 'Horn Dog Barley Wine'. And, of course, up Canada way there are those of the Unibrew brewery. One of my favorite beers is their 'La Fin Du Monde' (translation: 'The End of the World')
But the brewers in England ain't no slouchs either when it comes to creative naming, what with Old Oil Can, Old Peculiar, Entire Butt, and Old Nick just to name a few. There are dozens more of these as every brewery seems to come up with at least one out of the ordinary name. And in my experience, they are all pretty good beers, and some, like 'Old Nick' (another name for the very devil his own self), I will go way out of my way to obtain.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas
It was nice and creamy, very smooth with loads of hoppy & fruity flavors, and the fact that it wasn't so cold allowed the flavors to come thru even better. It was also noted that the cask conditioned sample was much darker than the HI from a regular keg.
