By the way, do you like my cinder block studio look for these mid-winter pictures? I realized I had a perfect tiny beer studio on a shelf right next to a light bulb that gives the sharpest photos. In the time of root vegetables for every meal and a drive to and from work in the dark, these things are important. So there.

Mid-February also calls for barley wine - if only because with two or three feet of snow outside who needs to go anywhere? This offering from Avery has their tell-tale (at least for me) hard water dryness but also plenty of the markers of a good barley wine. On the nose there is that rich sweet bready smell mixing with a little light freesia floral hopping. It pours an amber caramel with a deep cream froth and foam. In the mouth it is not as overwhelming as a hot dog of an ale like a young Thomas Hardy or other beef broth big brews but definitely in the ballpark. Sure, there are those oyster shell drying salts but also a pale malt wallop plus plenty of hops providing some interplay that starts to remind me of rye whiskey. Rye whiskey poured over a sticky bun. Mmmm. Sticky buns. Plenty of BAer love.

Later: Please remind me next time that over mineralized brews make my right eyeball throb.