“Hungarian Oak Barrel-aged Saffron’d Imperial Red Ale.”
This is the new bad boy from moondog…a Hungarian barrel aged imperial red ale, using saffron. Whoa. We are nervous and excited at the same time cause the alc vol of this brew is 14.1%! Here goes. Poured into a tulip glass, there is a monstrous head of yellow/white which sits there without budging. We are left with 10mm head as we sip. There is a dark ale look to this, almost ruby red in the light. Immediate smell of plums, raisin, saffron, pineapple, oak, booze and honey. Mouthfeel is massive, almost chewy. Strong but hidden booze merges with Belgian sugars, honeyed malts, drying bitterness, vinous oak and the spice from the hops/saffron/oak. There is massive wall of lace down the glass here. Definate oiliness on the palate also. This is a massive beer but we think the 2013 is slightly better. Not to take anything away from this brew, cause we like the complexity of the brewing.