Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot Barley-Wine Style ALE

Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot Barley-Wine Style ALE (2011)

Brewed and Bottled by Weyerbacher Brewing Co., in Easton, Pennsylvania. USA.

Year Round (Standard Release)

12 fl. oz. / $3.29 USD / 11.1% ABV

Theirs: "Enjoy Blithering Idiot in a brandy snifter or wine glass with full-flavored meats and cheeses, or as an after-dinner drink. Lay a few down. Aging only helps a barleywine develop more complexity. At 11.1% ABV this fine ale will keep for years. We feel comfortable setting our “Best By” date out to five years past the bottling date. This wonderful brew is available year-round."

Mine: Super hazy light-brown, somewhat copper with a very slow-to-form head that did indeed form and then lingered for a good amount of time.

Smells of heavy alcohol and melted down sugar daddies, or that cereal Golden Crisp I remember having when I was a kid. Honey, with a small hint of fruity tones.

Strong! Caramel backs it up heavily as the intensity dies down. It's spicy and sweet, hardly any bitterness, but strong alcohol. Fruity tones come out a bit more in the taste. It's like biting into a reverse caramel apple (that's a ball of caramel, coated in an apple flavored candy shell - I'm a genius to think up such a concept). There's a brown sugar type of biscuit like note at the end of everything. I like it.

Thick. Fizzy and attacking at first. Stingy once it settles. Coating once it's gone.

Aftertaste is so good. It's actually quite remarkable how good this tastes considering the initial heavy alcohol of each gulp that simply proceeds to kick the ass. If this brew gets better with a couple years age then it must be absolutely fuckin' remarkable by that time, because it is damn good with this new batch I'm drinking right now! My suggestion would be find a bottle and drink it, immediately. If you grab a four pack, save one of them for next year. This is my second Weyerbacher brew, but do believe me that I plan on trying all of them whenever I come around to do so. I can't find any of their Bombers (let alone any of their brews) in my area. I've only come across random singles here and there in the fridge, and sometimes their appearance startles me out of a purchase. I've never seen a company's bottles so manhandled at the store and still around. Maybe it's the price?? It sure as fuck isn't the taste!