Heretic Brewing Company Worry - Ale Aged in Chardonnay Barrels

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Heretic Brewing Company Worry - Ale Aged in Chardonnay Barrels. As I continue my search of the best bottle shops in the Bay Area I visited Willow’s Market in Menlo Park (here) and I can say my trip was well worth it.  Not only do they have an incredible selection, but the owner Nick is a cool guy.  I can see making the drive over there often to see what Nick is bringing in. He is a connoisseur and he knows great beer. On this trip I finally found Heretic’s Worry (and a few others).

From the Heretic Brewing Company website: “This golden blond Belgian-style ale is a symphony of bold and delicate wrapped into one. We took our 9.8% Belgian-style golden ale and aged it in Grgich Hill Estate Chardonnay barrels. It has a gentle warming with a light alcohol sweetness and a tantalizing fruity character full of apples, pears, and oranges. The barrel aging give it a great Chardonnay character and a dry finish.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance:  Pours a hazy pale orange with a large white head and nice lacing.

Aroma: Chardonnay soaked oak barrel, white grape skins, citrus, Belgian yeast, biscuit malt and a slight hint of spice.

Taste: Flavor like the nose with sweet light fruits and candi sugar, white grape, a serious dose of chardonnay soaked oak barrel, pale malt and Belgian yeast.  Spices are mild, but apparent.

Overall: I thoroughly enjoyed Heretic Brewing Company Worry and found it to be incredibly drinkable.  At 9.8% ABV there was just a slight alcohol presence.  The chardonnay barrel character really stood out on this one.  I had my wife try it and she was amazed at not only how good it is, but the noticeable chardonnay barrel flavors. I told her not to be surprised…this IS a Heretic beer and their beers never cease to impress me.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)