Cabby Boysenberry - Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant

Kegatron

Pennsylvania

3.58/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

On tap @ Iron Hill Phoenixville on 7/3/11. Served in a tulip glass. This is their Boysenberry Dubbel from here, which has been aged in a Cabernet barrel.

Pours a murky brown, with a thin covering of bright-white froth. This retains with some rich and foamy edges, leaving back some robust swathes of lacing down the sides of the glass. The aroma is a pretty even smelling mix of base and barrel, with the fruity boysenberry flavors and sugars of the Dubbel sitting right up front before giving away to more sharp feeling notes of fruit, oak, and a smidge of vanilla from that Cabernet barrel.

The taste is similar (if not leaning more towards the barrel), with that juicy and slightly tart boysenberry character being once again parked up front and being backed by a certain amount of breads and sugary sweetness. The barrel takes over in a big way towards the back however, with a STRONG fruity dryness that leaves the mouth coated with a tacky tannic feel. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, with a lively crispness to the carbonation that then gets a bit more slick and tannic feeling on the edges of the feel. There really is only some minimal warmth to the body, with any alcohol here coming straight from that wine barrel.

This wasn’t bad. I liked that the boysenberry flavor was recognizable here despite the fact that the barrel comes on pretty strong in both the taste and nose. Wine barrel aging really isn’t up my alley but this one was more tolerable than others that I’ve had. I’m glad that I have this a try.

Serving type: on-tap
@ Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, 130-138 Bridge St., Phoenixville

07-06-2011 19:23:12 | More by Kegatron