Beer Brief #52 - Lunker

Brewery - Steel Toe Brewing Company, Saint Louis Park, Minnesota

Beer - Lunker

Style - English barleywine aged in Templeton Rye whiskey barrels

ABV - 10.5 - 14.4%? I'm seeing conflicting reports regarding batch, and the bottle doesn't specify

Color - Very dark crimson brown with a minimal light tan foam skimming the surface

Aroma - English toffee, vanilla, dark dried fruit, toasted nuts, molasses, alcohol

Flavor - Rich toffee, chocolate, prunes, hint of nuttiness, vanilla, roasty bitterness, little spice

Verdict - A very delicious brew that fits the season well. Each sip warms me up after I fully enjoy all the rich and decadent flavors and aromas within the beer. I had tried this at the brewery on a terribly snowy blizzard of a day late last winter and it suited me so well that I had to take home a bottle. I'm enjoying it so much again that I know I will have to get another bottle as soon as it is available...

P.S. - So, for those of you who might not be sure - lunker is a word reserved for describing something big, usually a fish. Steel Toe did a great job of incorporating that into the label. This brew is aged in Templeton Rye whiskey barrels, which was Al Capone's favorite booze, according to legend. So, very appropriately, the label features Al Capone sitting on a Templeton Rye barrel out on a dock with a fishing pole and his line in the water, presumably trying to catch a lunker. (And of course, this is a "big" beer, so Lunker is a great name for it.)