Now, if any of you know me you know I do not go crazy trying to obtain all of the (extremely overhyped, in my opinion) barrel aged variations of many of the most highly sought after beers on the market. Most times I’m just as satisfied with the base version of the beer and it’s not worth the driving around and giving up some of my favorite New England beer to trade for these, so I generally don’t seek them. That said, barrel aging usually does not detract from the original experience, and there are plenty of beers that are aged in barrels because the style dictates it and they’re presented best when aged in a barrel, like sour/tart farmhouse saisons, lambics, etc. So please, count me in as a fan of barrel aged beer, but understand that comes with its caveats.

It’s been a while since I’ve caught up with Doom Saloon crew, almost a year now since the last sour tasting I attended down there. When I was invited to latest tasting, focused around the aforementioned many variations of barrel aged beers, I knew I needed to make my way down to Doom Saloon to catch up with the guys.

No rhyme or reason to how bottles were opened and I’m totally fine with that (tastings at Chez Fuj are the same).

The homemade Apple Pie clocked in a little lower ABV that I expected but tasted phenomenal just the same.

Cave Dave and Jeff crackin’ open a couple of bottles.

Night Shift’s Crusader really surprised me. I’m not a huge fan of Belgian DIPAs but the beer is vinous and showcases the white wine barrels very well. We’ve already drank both bottles of our Barrel Society allocation of this and luckily have another two waiting at the brewery.

Some say the original Parabola is falling off at this point but the bottle we opened Saturday was pretty amazing.

I was really happy to finally get a taste of 668 Chardonneighbor of the Beast. It’s one of the few NEBCO beers that has haunted eluded me.

A few more of the gems we shared that night.

And of course no Doom Saloon tasting would be complete without a little shenanigans.

And finally, I wasn’t allowed to leave without doing a couple of side by sides: Hill Farmstead’s Madness & Civilization 1 vs Genealogy of the Morals, and Allagash’s FV13 vs Merveilleux.

All in all another epic tasting at The Doom Saloon. Hoping it isn’t another year until my next one!