Uinta Crooked Line Cockeyed Cooper Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine Ale

My buddy Ed brought me up a bottle of Uinta Crooked Line Cockeyed Cooper Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine Ale from his trip to Atlanta. The beer pours a dark reddish-brown color with a frothy beige colored head that leaves a bit of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of raisin, fig, bourbon, oak, orange, and vanilla. The taste is smooth and sweet at first with a raisin and fig profile before drying off rather rapidly. The dryness is accompanied with bourbon, oak, pepper, and hints of grass. The finish has some vanilla sweetness with hints of orange as well. The alcohol content is 11.1% ABV. I feel like without the bourbon barrels, this was a solid barleywine, but with the addition of the barrels, it takes off to another dimension. The bourbon and oak dryness are great, and the hint of orange really rounds out the flavor.

Uinta Crooked Line Labyrinth Black Ale

My buddy Adam brought over a bottle of Uinta Crooked Line Labyrinth Black Ale to share. The beer pours a black color with a thin filmy tan head. The aroma consists of licorice, caramel, bourbon, and vanilla. The taste is chocolate, licorice, caramel, toasted malts, and vanilla. The alcohol content is 13.2% ABV. This beer was shockingly smooth but had some great toasted flavors as well. I think the bourbon helped mask the bitterness of the toasted malts, all while hiding itself rather well in the beer.