Otter Creek Quercus Vitis Humulus

A: Fairly clear amber/honey in color. The duvel glass kept the carbonation coming. Very spotty lacing.

S: You get white grape juice in the first whiff. Quite a bit of sweetness after that. It does not smell like a barleywine at all. This is a weird beer but I mean that in the best way possible. You do get a little touch of the barrel in the back. Little bit funky as well. Did they wash those grapes?

T: Smooth over everything else. You get the white grapes. A nice mix of sweetness and malt then comes. Dry as part of the taste. The barrel did wonders for this beer. Everything just sort of works together.

M: Very dry. The champagne yeast really went to work on this one.

D: This is an extreme beer. They threw everything they had at it and I think it worked. This is really interesting and should be consumed by those who have become bored of beer recently. There is NOTHING else like this out there. The Otter Creek Imperial Series has been amazing and the folks that work there are friendly from the top down. Gotta try this and cellar another.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 11-13-2009 01:39:44 | id: 1036819

Otter Creek's new line of Imperials have been very impressive. The RIS and the IIPA both have been heavy-hitters... looking forward to this, as it seems to be a one-of-a-kind beer.

"French Oak Aged Ale brewed with French Grape Juice; Fermented with Champagne Yeast."

Poured into wide snifter.

A- A slow decantation (is that a word) leaves a 1cm creamy head on a glowing orange beer. Bubbles are tightly formed and settle into a nice film rather quickly. At 12%... I'm impressed. An aggressive second pour gives me a four-finger head in my snifter. Damn! Quickly settles, a nice slightly-off white. Bump to 5 for 5... spectacular!

S- Grape juice is noticeable. A mild bit of funk? Hmm... Maybe not. There's a sugary, white-wine sweetness here (duh, made with grape juice). Very inviting, not boozy at all. Not like any barleywine I've ever smelled... points for originality.

T- Not as grape-centric as I expected, very sweet though. Drying. Interesting. Woody oak notes are at the front of the line. Hmmm...

Second sip- I can dig it. Drying, moderately hopped... and sweet unlike any beer I've ever had. Not the sweetest, not overdone, not overpowering.. like confectioner's sugar or maple candy (without the maple flavor). Like nothing I've ever had, for better or for worse. For better, actually. As it goes down, I am able to get past/around the sweetness and move on to the oak characters. Def. light oak barrel qualities. Wood plays interesting with the slightly peppery champagne yeast.

M- Mildly tart, sweet, drying, a bit peppery, not sure if its the yeast or the hops. A head-scratcher. Good carbonation.

D- Moderate. Taste is complex, and this beer demands to be imbibed slowly. But there's almost no hint of the 12% ABV... so a slight bump for that. I want to get a few more bottles and let them sit for a while, to see if anything interesting develops. Not that it isn't interesting now... but I have a hunch that time will be kind to this one.

BTW- not like a barleywine by a longshot in my book. A oaked Belgian strong pale with fruit added... kind of a mash up.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 11-08-2009 03:28:05 | id: 1033466

Thanks beerloco!

Pours an orange-y-amber. Small white foam head that died as quickly as my dreams of a threesome with Scarlett Johanneson and Jessica Biel. Smells...

... absolutely nothing like a barleywine. Not even in the slightest. Smells like a weird earthy/grassy hop aroma, and ... funk? Is that funk? I don't know, some weird medicinal component.

Tastes strangely yeasty and sweet. Again: this is a barleywine? I'm not a slave to style guidelines, but this is an abomination before Zeus. Sweet, yeasty, a hint of weird medicine/grass hops ... ugh. There's a weird sweet grape/fruit flavor that's offputting.

The flat, syrupy mouthfeel only contributes to the misery.

Serving type: growler

Reviewed on: 11-07-2009 10:15:22 | id: 1032867

Pours a blonde/light copper color with a one-finger head into my glass. Seems lighter than usual for the style.

There's a strong aroma of grape, followed by sweet malt (especially raisin) and just a hint of oak from the oak aging.

Taste is full of grapes, oak and raisin. Interesting mix of flavors that mingle in the mouth. Alcohol warmth is well-contained and the oak does not overwhelm the palate. Again, interesting mix of flavors.

Mouthfeel is full of lingering grape and raisin. Alcohol warmth is contained to only a trace. Carbonation is a bit up there but only becomes noticeable at the end of the mouth.

Very strong, interesting and complex ale from Otter Creek. It certainly is ambitious and seems very drinkable. A bit of aging might help it even more but you can drink it fresh without being overwhelmed by the complexity of it. Pick up a bottle.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 11-07-2009 02:37:55 | id: 1032531

A- Pours a orangey/ amber color with a one finger thick cream colored head, which sticks around for quite a while.

S- Grapes, fresh cut oak, yeast, a touch of alcohol in the background. Man the warmer it gets there's a funky sweetness that hits your nose before you even get a sip that is quite unpleasant.

T- Sweet white grape juice notes lead the way here, midpalate hints of some sweet malts notes. Little to no hints of wood aging, and Finishes with an odd and not so pleasant hop bitterness that seems out of harmony with the original sweetness. Also a touch hot after a few sips.

M- Medium viscosity with a well integrated carbonation.

D- Man I'm really bummed out about this beer I had really high hopes and it fell way short. For one I don't think its great to put this in the barley wine category it would compare more favorably with belgian beers. I think that maybe they just tried to do too much here or possibly just went for something too different. The grapes become too much of the focus over the beer itself and the level of sweetness borders on cloying. Plus the hop character seems out of place and awkward.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 11-05-2009 23:21:55 | id: 1031686

A: Pours a dark golden color, maybe copper/bronze. Nice dense one finger off white head with some great thin lacing.

S: Smells like someone made grape pie the same way they would make apple pie. Loads of sugary grapes, graham cracker crust and some wine like notes.

T: Nice white grape flavor up front with some graham cracker following. A nice sweet grape flavor is in the middle with some earthy hop flavor. The finish of almost sulfury with some herbal grape flavor.

M: Well carbonated, crisp, bitter, medium/full bodied.

D: A nice barleywine, pretty young right now, but this one should age very well.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 11-04-2009 23:26:30 | id: 1031003

Sampled at the Copper Mine Pub's 1 Year Anniversary Party last weekend!

Appearance: fire like orange and fairly translucent body with minimal crown or lace.

Smell: Notes of white grape juice, sweet sugar, malt and toasty French oak.

Taste: Same as the nose. The finish is a bit sweet and the beer remains fairly drinkable yet somewhat complex.

Mouthfeel: A touch to the heavy side of medium bodied with moderate carbonation for a cask.

Drinkability: At 12% I can't give it more than a 3.5 but the flavor is pleasant and approachable.

It's an exciting look into the new direction that Otter Creek Brewing is heading in!

Brewers Description:

QVH is our brewers' tribute to the mighty oak, luscious grape, and humble hop. The homage begins with a bold 27 degree plato barley-wine, warm-fermented with Bohemian lager yeast, then blended with Sauvignon Blanc grape juice and fermented a second time with a pure culture of Champagne yeast. When this intricate brew was complete, our brewers aged it on lightly toasted French Oak. The six week journey through our brewery results in a deeply complex ale which clocks in at 12% ABV, with 38 IBU.

Malts: 2-row, Wheat, Vienna, Crystal, Munich, Aromatic
Hops: UK Goldings, Strisselspalt

Serving type: cask

Reviewed on: 10-30-2009 17:08:44 | id: 1027133