Year of New Beer: Bourbon Barrel Ink, Rhinegeist Brewery (Cincinnati)

Written By: Dion on 01/22/2016

Huge bourbon notes anchor a nose that also features coffee, chocolate, vanilla, and traces of beef jerky. On the tongue, sweet caramel and creamy vanilla are quickly pushed aside by a building bourbon heat. Charred oak, roasted nuts, and slightly burnt coffee round out the flavor. This is very good, and like the Sherry Ink, much better than the base beer. Rhinegeist should adopt the Bourbon County philosophy and not bother with the base beer but rather use it as a jumping off point for killer variants.