“Some beers just belong in barrels, and Flying Mouflan – a resiny, chocolatey giant of a barleywine ale – is one of them. We pour every drop we brew into bourbon barrels, taming the sharpness of the hops and uncovering layers of salted caramel, pecan pie and rum raisin.”
Glassware: Snifter.
Appearance: Rich mahogany complexion with a wispy overlay. The head snaps back to the rim and leaves a set of rings as we imbibe.
Aroma: Massive caramel and toffee overtones initially with waves of ripe dark fruits, woody oak tannins and dark chocolate following close behind. Tonnes of residual/candi sugars, figjam, glazed cherry, maple syrup and sappy pine resins. Getting just a flutter of tangy orange citrus creeping in as well. Phenomenal, the depth and complexity is just superb.
Flavour: Really good transition from the nose. All that uber sweet caramel, dark fruit and jammy sweetness dominates the front palate but the booze and subtle hops cut in like a hot knife through butter. Hints of chocolate and subtle oak slowly move forward in to the surprisingly dry bitter finish that offers earthy fig, toast and subtle citrus hops on the rear.
Mouthfeel: Chewy and dense, warming and a little dry in the swallow. 11.7% AbV and a whopping 76 IBU. Guess that explains the bitterness!
Overall: It’s no Alesmith Numbskull but it certainly holds its own. By the way if anyone knows what a ‘Flying Mouflan’ is would you let us know!? 