Can’t decide whether to have a beer or a bourbon? No problem. This ale from Lexington Brewing Company is the best of both worlds.
Beer Details: Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale from Lexington Brewing Company, Lexington, Kentucky. (Barrel-aged ale, 8.19% ABV)
Appearance: Clear coppery-gold ale with a thin head of parchment-colored foam. Lots of tiny bubbles stream up the sides of the glass.
Aroma: All bourbon, all the time. The aroma is thick and boozy with wave after wave of oak, vanilla, and caramel. It smells like something you want to dip a spoon into and lick clean.
Taste: There’s a very quick shot of earthy bitterness upfront, and then the beer smooths out into more heady bourbon flavors. A deep caramel sauce maltiness bordering on milk chocolate glides over the tongue, leaving behind lingering flavors of vanilla, damp wood, and grain. It’s creamy and silky smooth, sip after sip. The alcohol will also definitely keep you warm on a cold night.
For all of this, the beer finishes surprisingly clean. While its definitely sweet, there’s none of the stickiness or cloying sugars that barrel aged beers sometimes pick up. We also appreciate the uniqueness of this beer; you don’t see many amber ales aged in oak barrels. Most brewers save this for their porters and barleywines. But this one Lexington Brewery feels like a true merging of a beer with good-quality bourbon.
Food Pairing: This beer was made to go with dessert. Try it with a bowl of stewed stone fruit with a drizzle of chocolate sauce on top.
Have you tried this beer? What do you think of it?
Related: Barrel-Aged Beers: Loving or Hating?
(Image: Emma Christensen)
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I'm from KY near this brewery originally and love this beer, even though I too, am not a fan of cloyingly sweet beers. This is a perfect sipping beer and always reminds me of the fall. I always pick up a six-pack to take home while visiting family.
Oo want to try that. Sounds like Allagash curieux.
Yay! Thanks for featuring a beer local to me! Nearly all bars around Lexington have the Kentucky Ale on tap. It's a pretty good beer, but KY bourbon is still the best thing around here!
wow - I love Kentucky bourbon and would love to get my hands on some of this - any idea if they ship up to NY or PA?
It looks like they're only in Kentucky and Ohio right now. Bummer! You might try contacting Half Time Beverage - they don't list it on their website, but they might be able to get it for you.
I like this beer a lot, and Emma's description of taste is pretty spot on. Great with desserts, and I have liked it as well as with red meats and meals with a touch of sweet (think: a glazed pork loin). Just be careful-- that residual alcohol it picks up from the bourbon barrels creeps up pretty fast! Two, and I am sleeping like a baby.
this is delicious, I don't have any around but I think it's around 8%
Ok, just got back from a business trip to Louisville. Great people, warm city. Went to Patrick O'Shea's downtown for dinner and tried KBBA. OMG, delicious. I think it was the best beer I have ever tasted. My collage agreed. We are thinking of driving down with a pick-up truck to bring a load back. They don't ship out of state. :(
This past fall I was.in Lexington, on business, and was blessed to find KBBA. I concur...OMG...it is soooo good. When I got back to.Chicago, I was blessed again...and found it bei.g served...on tap...at my local watering hole, De Ja Brew in Oak Lawn...!!! Now my quest is to build a Keezer and have it on tap...at home...! My local liquor store, Kenwaood, will sell me q sixth slim....so...enjoyment forthcoming...