Old Ale Project – Tahoe Mountain Brewing Co.’s Old Ale (#21)

1 pint 0.9 fluid ounce bottle (half a liter translated into human) poured into a tulip.  10.0% ABV.  Stored and served at 55F.

Appearance:  As dark as my soul.  Apparently the beer pulled ALL of the char off the sides of the barrels it lived in.  So maybe once it looked like an Old Ale, but now it could visually pass off as a stout.  No head to speak of and only an infrequent bubble desperately escaping from the depths of its abyss (2/5).

Aroma:  You know that smell you get when you age raisins in a bourbon barrel?  And then you add a little more bourbon?  And then you mix it with your feet?  And then you rinse your feet with some more bourbon?  It smells kinda like that.  Bourbon, raisins, feet, and bourbon (1/5).

Taste:  I tend to like a little Old Ale with my bourbon.  Unfortunately this is pretty much just lightly carbonated bourbon.  Someone may need to discuss the idea of blending with the brewery.  I would love to evaluate the beer here, but I’m not 100% convinced I can find it (1.5/5).

Mouthfeel:  Lightly carbonated bourbon.  Thin and also bourbon (1.5/5).

Overall:  So there’s a lot of bourbon in this beer.  I like bourbon, but I also like beer.  And I thought I bought a beer.  Apparently not the case.  And something has gone funky (or was from the get-go) because it smells terrible.  Sorry, Tahoe (1.5/5).

-Matt