69/100) Zipline Barrel Aged Rum

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Farmhouse Pale, Barrel Aged Black IPA, IRA

Zipline Brewing Co is really growing on me. Their barrel-aged beers and Limited Series are quite fun. And while I don't review it here, I recommend their Limited Series Double IPA for anyone who wants a solid hopped beer. Drink Local!

Farmhouse Pale) It's light but has a lot of funky belgian yeast attributues going on in the middle and finish. The linger even changes over time. The only thing that sets it off negatively from other Belgian pale ales was that it lacks the rich mouth feel. I can't confirm right now, but I also suspect that it is filtered because I've never seen such a clear Belgian style, which may account for the clean mouth feel. And despite that disparity with my ideal Belgian fare, this is possibly my favorite Zipline beer or at least a near pair for their Kölsch. ☆☆☆☆

Barrel Aged Black IPA) It's had a good half a year on it now. And while I've had it a couple times at events or on tap, this was my first time having it fresh from a bottle. My first reaction was that it is amazing with yummy burnt sugar characteristics and a rich backdrop, but then I was slightly bummed. The booziness didn't dissipate like I had hoped. On the finish, it just built becoming more and more strongly pronounced as I consumed more. There was, of course, little hop presence as one would expect from a barrel-aged black IPA. What the aging left was a fairly barrel heavy, boozied backdrop, smoothed out beer. I rather approve of it. ☆☆☆☆

IRA) What is it that makes an India Red Ale, an India Red Ale? Simply, you take the amped up hoppiness levels of an IPA and you combine that with the colors and background flavor touches that an amber would have. And voila! You have an IRA. Zipline's IRA does nothing wrong, but it came across as a bit monotone to me. Although, as I have said before, bitter-focuse beers are not exactly my thing. This one poured a nice rusty amber and left my taste buds a bit hop-singed. If that's your thing, check it out! ☆☆☆