Friday, February 14, 2020

Oliphant Brewing's A Risk of Cats

Oliphant Brewing's A Risk of Cats. Bourbon barrel-aged Super Squishy. Berry Sour with coconut, lactose, and sea salt. 5 % ABV, Oliphant Brewing, Somerset, WI.

Collaboration with 1010 Washington Wine and Spirits, which were I buy most of my Oliphant here in town, mostly due to convenience. All the other stores that carry them are just a little out of the way.

"Fruit Sour" is all the can will tell us. Except for this: "In the heist of the decade, Whiskers Pinkstar stars as Meowcifer Hairballin an intrepid yarn thief with little cares. After a chance meeting in Stray Cat Alley, Hairballin is forced to steal for the evil genius BRAIN STEM, played by Pinkus Putterus in his tour de force return to cinema." I have no idea what that means. Is it a spoof or something? What is Jeremy referencing on this label? Or is it a completely original creation? Will I ever find out?

But for now, let's drink a beer.

Dark crimson coloring, thoroughly opaque, slim to no head.

In the nose: Big time berries, slowly but surely smothered with bourbon barrel. Sweet berry flavor hovers just above the whiskey, vanilla, oak, et al.

In the mouth:

WAIT! Stop everything! I get it: The Aristocats! A Disney movie I've never seen because I've never really been into Disney movies, but now, I guess, I technically am, because of my love of Star Wars and Marvel. (And the Muppets.) (And The Simpsons.) (...sigh...)
Aristocats...A Risk of Cats. Duh.

But, back to the beer:
In the mouth: Tartness and sweetness, swallowed slightly by the barrel. Takes some time to get there, got to let it grow. Berries are bright, coconut lays low, salt and sugar keep all in line. Medium bodied, easy-drinking and scrumptious. Barrel character continues to grow and wrap itself around the berries.

Now maybe, just maybe, this could have spent a bit more time in the barrels, or maybe, just maybe, this is enough. I haven't had a lot of bourbon barrel-aged fruit sours, so I'm not even sure if they're a good thing.

This, though, is a very fine thing. A very fine thing, indeed.

And there's one song to pair it with. Excuse the occasional racism (sheesh, you'd think by 1970, they'd get it):

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