I grabbed the L’Ultima Luna by Birrificio Del Ducato in Italy from my local bottle shop, and was told by the clerk that this was an amazing English Barleywine. Aged in oak barrels for nine months that previously contained “great Italian wines,” I am expecting a nice additional layer of barrel and wine flavors.
In a totally unplanned coincidence I have another in New Belgium’s Lips of Faith series to review. This one, called Super Cru, is a 10% ABV Belgian Strong Pale Ale brewed with Asian pear juice. An interesting additive to be sure, and not one I’m very familiar with, or one that I have seen before. When this happens I find that it is best to dive right in.
I had Duchesse De Bourgogne on-tap my very first time trying the beer and fell in love. Shane previously reviewed this beer on draft, so I’ll be reviewing the bottle after recently picking up a gift set of two bottles and matching glass. The beer is fermented in previously used oak wine barrels and is a blend of eight and eighteen month old ales matured in oak barrels.
Since New Beligum made its way into my area I have been seeking out every beer I could find. Many of these beers have been from the Lips of Faith series, and they have been hit or miss so far. Today I have the Prickly Passion Saison, which is brewed using prickly pear and passion fruit. These two ingredients don’t make their way into beer often so I’m excited to see how it turns out.
As part of an awesome beer line-up this past New Years Eve, Nick opened his bottle of FiftyFifty Eclipse Elijah Craig 18 Year Imperial Stout. At 9.5% ABV just like the rest of the series, this variation has been aged in – you guessed it – Elijah Craig 18 Year old barrels. We’ve just reviewed the Four Roses variation, so lets see how this stood up in comparison.
