Alright, thanks to Roy Bergeron for bringing one of these back from Florida for me. I'm not sure I'd ever heard of Thomas Creek Brewery out of South Carolina before, but after a little research it seems they also contract brew the BottleTree Blonde Ale that I tried a while back and didn't really care for. Interesting... hopefully that contract brew isn't indicative of their own beers!
For this one, I served it from a 12 oz. bottle into a Homer Brewing Company snifter. It's a very deep red color with a small tan head. The retention on the head is great, though, and very nice pooling and lacing on top of the beer.
The nose is very alcoholic and warm, with hints of toffee and then bold hop flavors. This is almost a barleywine to my nose, but that's a good thing. It's fantastic. It's 12.5% alcohol, so the alcohol notes don't surprise me, but the toffee flavors do.
The taste is also very barleywine-esque in nature with a little more hops but still a warm alcohol kick and definite toffee notes. I really like it, but this isn't quite spot on for the style.
Delicious, just a little misleading to me. I'm okay with breweries experimenting and not brewing exactly to style but it also can be confusing when they try to label their beer something that it's really not. At the same time though, many times styles can be blurred and it's not like this isn't plenty hoppy enough to be considered an IPA!
The nose is very alcoholic and warm, with hints of toffee and then bold hop flavors. This is almost a barleywine to my nose, but that's a good thing. It's fantastic. It's 12.5% alcohol, so the alcohol notes don't surprise me, but the toffee flavors do.
The taste is also very barleywine-esque in nature with a little more hops but still a warm alcohol kick and definite toffee notes. I really like it, but this isn't quite spot on for the style.
Delicious, just a little misleading to me. I'm okay with breweries experimenting and not brewing exactly to style but it also can be confusing when they try to label their beer something that it's really not. At the same time though, many times styles can be blurred and it's not like this isn't plenty hoppy enough to be considered an IPA!
I'd absolutely drink it again, is the main point.
My Rating: B+
Hey dumbass, I have a Thomas Creek tshirt that I'm sure I've worn plenty of times around you.
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