Prairie Artisan Ales Wine Barrel Noir

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Prairie Artisan Ales Wine Barrel Noir - Imperial Stout Aged In Red Wine Barrels. I picked this up at Santa Clara Liquors (here). If you get a chance, head in there and tell ‘em that Mark from NorCal Beer Blog sent you.  You’ll be glad you did – they have an incredible selection!

From the Prairie Artisan Ales website: “Wine Barrel Noir is our imperial oatmeal stout aged in freshly dumped red wine barrels. Coffee and chocolate notes in the beer are complimented by tart berry flavors and oak we derive from the wine barrels.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours black with a large and dense tan head and lots of splotchy lacing.

Aroma: Roasted malts, coffee, chocolate, red wine, oak and berries.

Taste: Dark, bitter roasted malts, chocolate, coffee, loads of red wine flavors – similar to merlot or a cabernet, oak, vanilla, dark fruits – reminding me mostly of raspberries with some sour cherries and maybe plum mixed in.

Overall: Complex and unusual, Prairie Artisan Ales Wine Barrel Noir was great to try.  The combination of the roasty and sour flavors of this 10% offering was enjoyable.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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