My God, it’s Full of Flavor: Lakefront Bourbon Barrel Aged Holiday Spice
Posted in Uncategorized on December 30th, 2010 by Michael Sokolowski
So last night we attended a viewing party at the Bomb Shelter bar in Milwaukee for the premiere of Drinking Made Easy, an episode of Zane Lampery’s drinking hijinks show that stopped in Milwaukee, WI. Several members of the brewing community were on hand to celebrate the event including, Lakefront Brewery. They brought along with them an experimental batch of their Holiday Spice aged in Great Lakes Distillery Bourbon Barrels. Whoa, what?! You may have read our review of Lakefront Holiday Spice from day 9 of our Midwest Holiday Beer review-a-thon, if not, check it out here.
Mike’s Take:
This version of Lakefront’s offering of holiday cheer packs a hell of a punch. It keeps many of the same visible characteristics like dark caramel color but with less head, much less head. This beer is bigger in many ways, but comes at you in a slightly different
way. The malty spicy alcohol aroma is still there but we noticed that cold right out of the tap the bourbon essence was prevelent, overpowering the holiday spices of nutmeg, cinnamon, orange peel, honey and ginger. As the beer warmed up you could begin to taste the complexities of the beer which is normal but as the spices came out to play the bourbon was sent to time out. You still know it’s there, but it just sits in the corner, staring at you. My criticism would be, not enough. Holiday Spice is on the top of my personal list every winter, but if I had to pick on this variation it would be let it age a bit more. This is a very sweet, smooth beer. Excellent in many ways I just wanted a better bourbon finish. I did detect a good balance with hops for the style. You have to look for it, but you can find it, just the way it should be.
I really did enjoy this beer, in fact I had two. It’s a knock you on your butt holiday beer which I love. If Mr. Klisch is listening – keep it up! We love to see collaboration between great companies from the Midwest. If this was bottled I would buy for sure!
Mike’s score: 4.75/5
Brittain’s take:
Being a big fan of Holiday Spice already, and also of bourbon barrel aged beers, I was really excited to hear about this one, and even more when I was able to partake in the this one off Lakefront elixir. The first thing you notice is bourbon aroma. the barrel aging really smooths things out. you could really taste the bourbon, but it is far from overpowering. this is a really well balanced combination. I really wish they would bottle this, as I would buy lots. I think it may have replaced Pumpkin as my favorite Lakefront.
Brittain’s score: 5/5