I tried Dogfish Head’s Burton Baton a couple nights ago. The beer is called an oak aged imperial IPA, and that’s exactly how it tasted. But there was one problem… the alcohol.
The beer poured a brown amber color with almost no head. I could smell the vanilla from the oak barrel and the hops. The flavor was good. Lots of vanilla and malty sweetness up front, followed by the bitter hops. Unfortunately, the hops were followed by a pretty hot alcoholic burn. At 10%, it’s not overly surprising, but I was hoping this would hide it more. Because of the heat, I wouldn’t call this overly drinkable.
It was worth trying, and I might buy another bottle to age a few months, but I don’t know about this one. IPA’s generally don’t age overly well because they lose their hops character. While the hops weren’t overly prominent in this one, they were a big part of the flavor profile. So I’m on the limb with this one. Maybe I’ll just try it next year or wait a month or 2 and see if I can still buy it and try it again.
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