Something with a bit of local flavor tonight. I caught up on two O'Connor Virginia Vintage series beers: the
Susan Constant Wheat Wine and the
Jamestown Island Old Ale.
The fine print on these O'Connor Virginia Vintage series beers encourages the consumer to age the beer, which I did 3 months for the SC. Cellar conditions were not ideal on account of a move and roommates opening the damn door too often, but the Susan held up well.
The Susan Constant WW pours amber. It has a nose of wheaty malt, some sweet malt, and just a touch of tropical fruit. This is one best started at or slightly below room temperature; I had it in the fridge for an afternoon before I consumed it and I found that it needed to warm up a bit before the nose awakened.
Holy hell was this thing worth the price tag on the taste. There's that wheaty sweet malt, caramel, and just a touch of toffee to give the back of the taste some character. This was the first Wheat Wine that I had ever consumed, and I feel that it was something special in that respect. Imagine that a German Weissbier and an English Barleywine got together and made sweet sweet love, with lots of fermentable sugars for the yeast to turn into alcohol. The SC is a beast on the ABV (11%) but you don't taste a bit of it. The strength is lost in the complexity of the beer, running silent behind the caramel and toffee notes and cleverly masked by that true-to-style milkshake-creamy mouthfeel of an artisanal wheat beer. Finish was more of the same, but with a lingering touch of hop bitterness.
"Strong, wheaty, and absolutely delicious" should be the tagline of this beer. It had everything I like about Weiss/Hefe
and everything I like about Barleywine, all wrapped up in a stylish bottle. Bravo. Simple as that.
Next up was the Jamestown Island Old Ale.
This one pours a deep and dark brown with a slight murky/hazy character towards the center of the glass, as quintessential a color example for the Old Ale style as I have found. The nose is sweet malt with a touch of smoke, a touch of molasses, and a touch of dark fruit. Tastes like sweet malt, some dark fruit, some caramel, and a touch of smoke.
Mouthfeel is heavy, as to be expected. It has a slightly chewy character to it once it settles. The finish is some sweet malt, some smoky toasted malt, a touch of caramel, and a delicate lingering touch of smokiness.
Excellent pair, but Susan Constant takes the night. Wham, bam, wheaty slam. Mind-blowing artisanal brew.