About the Ale: Barley's Infinity Grand Cru is a wonderfully complex Belgian dark strong ale.
Complex, with a rich malty sweetness, fruity esters and significant alcohol with moderate spiciness.
The malt is rich and forward, with caramel and toast aroma. The esters give raisin, plum and dried cherry notes, with a subtle pepperiness.
This is not a Belgian that's going to get all clove and banana on you. The Belgian yeast strain we used gives us the fruity esters we were looking for, as well as the higher alcohol.
So what's a Grand Cru?
Historically, Grand Cru is a regional wine classification that designates a vineyard known for its favorable reputation. The term is not technically a classification of wine quality per se, but is intended to indicate the potential of the vineyard.
At one time, Belgium was a part of Burgundy. Elder Belgians will tell you that their love of great food and drink has its origins in the time when they were part of Burgundy.
Belgium of course has a great tradition of brewing fantastic ales. It's only natural that they would adopt this wine term to describe their best beers.
We decided to adopt this moniker for our Belgian dark strong ale. Barley's Infinity Grand Cru.
Cheers!
Why Infinity? Our Grand Cru was first tapped in the same month that our downtown long time Executive Chef, now General Manager Jason Fabian is getting married to his lovely bride Gretchen. We named it "Infinity" to symbolize the infinite commitment two people make to each other.
Here's Lookin' at you, Kid!
Let's see how it syncs up to their description.
This 9.2% ABV beast pours a dark brown, almost like dark chocolate. There is a decent amount of caramel colored head. The nose on this is something else. This has so much happening, let's begin to even catch a little bit of what's swirling around in this epic concoction. There is definitely a dark stone fruit in the nose; a little cherry, a little plum. There are also hints of sweetness and at times, faint toasted notes. The first taste... OK... The second sip... OK, The third taste... Damn this is good. We tried samples of this during the Microbrew fest, but I don't remember it being this good (it might have been because of the Centennial IPA firkin or the Columbus hops that I chewed on), but this is downright amazing. There is an initial taste of cherry, caramel and spice, but as you sip on it more, it becomes more complex. There's toasted malt, plum and almost a wine-like bit that join in the mix. I don't think I can fully describe all the different notes I'm pulling out. At times, there are some faint banana and clove notes that Belgian yeast strains are known for, but it's masked over by the other flavors. The fact that each sip is different than the last makes this probably the hardest beer to describe. It's very complex, at times like a hefe, at times like a barleywine, and others like a Trappist ale.
There is some light carbonation in this, just enough to remind you that this is a beer and not... well, some non-beer.... Shit. I'm feeling the alcohol on this as I've downed half a pint (and the Hoptoberfest, plus the normal daily allowance of cheap daily beer). The mouthfeel on this is slightly sticky, in a sweetness sort of way, but this is, in no way at all, cloying.
I now pass this torch onto she-who-.... ah hell. I give my rating and hand this over to Jennie.
5/5 caps
-Nathan-
So, at the Microbrew Fest, we were invited to, nay, encouraged to sample liberally from both Barley's tents ("Know what you're selling," and all that), as even though they are separate entities and separately owned, the names and brewers are so intertwined that commingling lingers. For example, Angelo (brewmaster at Alehouse #1), had tossed in Centennial, Citra, and Amarillo hops by the handful into the cask of Centennial IPA at the Smokehouse table. The Infinity was one of the brews from Alehouse #1 nearest us, and sample I did, as it was one of their more popular brews at the festival. Then I had someone pop down from another tent and ask for the "beer that tastes like brown sugar". This was the closest I could think of, and it was well-received.
When speaking with a brewmaster, I enjoy finding out which beer is their favorite or their pride-and-joy, and Angelo pointed us towards this. He also encouraged us to sample the Massive Attack, a Belgian golden ale with black currants. It was also fantastic, but the sample and my palate were destroyed too quickly yesterday to give a full review of that.... I'm just hoping it's still on tap toward the holiday season, as Nathan's grandmother loves black currants.
Wait, am I having a hot flash, or is this warmth from the alcohol in this 9.2% monster of yumminess??? Let's find out.
This is a hazier deep garnet color with a good amount of toffee-colored head still attached to the glass and leaving lovely lacing down the sides. The head does not stick around long, probably because of the higher alcohol content. The aroma is pure brown sugar, raisins, and dark stone fruit, purely Belgian strong ale. It's quite lovely, despite my abhorrence of raisins. Now, the funny thing is, as I was surrounded by the people who made this brew, they swore up and down there was no brown sugar in this... and yet, it certainly smells of brown sugar and perhaps a hint of molasses. [Food geek note: brown sugar is merely white sugar with molasses added. Dark brown sugar has more molasses than light brown sugar.] To my experience with Belgian strongs, this is very desirable. Taking a sip, it's rather sweet. It's brown sugar blended with all those lovely stone fruits, with hints of caramel and a strong alcohol bite toward the very end. There's a kick-you-in-the-nuts kind of warmth that spreads over your entire being like a succubus. It's well-carbonated, sticky on the lips but not cloying.
As per usual, we have a couple of hunks of cheese in our fridge. Let it be noted that we are both complete and utter cheeseheads, despite our living in a state besides Wisconsin. On Barley's website, they suggest with this a Gruyere cheese, among many other food pairings. We happened to have a hunk of generic Swiss and an aromatic rosemary Asiago. Funny, I thought I would like the asiago more with this brew... but the rosemary, the pungency of the cheese, and the great fruit esters in the beer all cancel each other out. It's much better with a store-brand large block of Swiss -- which actually evokes the wonderful flavors of Gruyere. I can only imagine how tasty an actual Gruyere would be with this. Side note, I gave Nathan a hunk of both, as he's finishing off the growler of Hoptoberfest, and he said the Asiago complements it perfectly. The nutty notes of the Swiss are a lovely balance to the fruity esters, and the buttery nature of Swiss is a killer complement to the alcohol finish in this beer. If you're a beer-and-cheese fan (and who isn't?!), do yourself a favor and get yourself a quality hunk of Gruyere to accompany this beer. Your tastebuds will thank me.
In a heartbeat, I'd throw this up against any Belgian Trappist ale, and it will stand on its own.
5/5 caps
-Jennie
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