Prairie Artisan Ales The Beer That Saved Christmas

Brewed By: Prairie Artisan Ales in Tulsa (brewed in Krebs), Oklahoma  

Purchased: 500ml (16.9oz) bottle bought at Fischman Liquors and Tavern in Chicago, IL; 2013  

Style/ABV: Old Ale, 10.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

Tonight is one of those nights, but I ain't complaining. About Prairie Artisan Ales:

Prairie Artisan Ales are yet another brewery that began as a Kickstarter campaign. Founded in 2012 by brothers Chase and Colin Healey (nice beards), the duo have been busy making beer as Gypsy Brewers, but also have their own brew facility (complete with barrels!). You can check them out on Facebook here.

The Beer That Saved Christmas is an "Ale aged in oak barrels with a mixture of wild bacteria." This one happens to be an Old Ale, and is described as having notes of chocolate, cherry, vanilla, and caramel. I like all those things, so this should be good.

Prairie The Beer That Saved Christmas

This beer pours about how you expect: brown, murky, dirtier than the mall santa's lap, and with a finger or two of bready, dark brown head. In bright light the beer takes on red/brown/purple tones, with streaming carbonation, sticky lacing, and glossy alcohol legs. It's an Old Ale, yo.

The barrel and the "wild bacteria" give this beer some noticeable fruity character on the aroma, with raisins, dates, cherries, figs, plums, fruitcake, peppery and phenolic esters, and tons of wood. The wood leans towards that wine-like, fruity character. The chocolate/vanilla/caramel also comes through on the aroma.

You almost expect this beer to blunt you with malt thickness and caramel/chocolate/vanilla...but this beer is super subtle, with tons of cherry, wood, fruits, oxidized/sherry notes, and growing booze on the back. The back palate really hits you up with wood, chocolate, some nuttiness, and booze. It's a surprisingly complex beer, despite not being as big as you might expect.

I usually roll through the palate progression last, but this is a strange beer. So here we go. Up front: fruity notes, namely cherry, raisins, plums, perfume/phenol; the middle dials up some vanilla, wood, chocolate, sherry/oxidized fruits; the back rolls into dense woody character, chocolate, nuttiness. This beer is surprisingly complex, but the duration is a bit short. The funky yeast mostly manifests as fruit, and you get tons of wood character. It's a medium-full bodied beer with high complexity and an average palate depth and duration. The 10% comes and goes...I do pick up some alcohol in this, but it is mostly blended into the scenery.

Rating: Above-Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Light Above-Average on this. This beer is surprisingly complex, especially if you sit down and mull over it. If you drink this beer in a hurry or without much thought, a lot of the flavors are going to get lost. I do wish it dialed up the mouthfeel a bit, but it technically achieves Old Ale status with the boozy complexity, rich malts, and rich dark fruits. I bet this one will age well for a few years. Food pairings: nutty desserts, dry cakes, anything with gravy, anything with a berry/fruit sauce, pork or beef roast, duck, and certainly meats and cheeses. This one didn't cost much and worked out in the end. I would recommend grabbing a bottle or two. You pretty much can't go wrong with Prairie. 

Random Thought: This has seriously been the longest week ever.