Rogue Brewing Co. - John John Ale

Rogue Brewing Co.'s "John John Juniper Ale" is a Pale Ale that was brewed with juniper berries and then aged in gin-soaked spruce barrels.

13 degrees Plato = Approx 5% ABV  and 34 IBU's

Review:
Poured into a pint glass the color looks like a golden orange juice. The small amount of head does its cameo and departs quickly. The aroma is definitely dominated by the aroma of Juniper but there is also an interesting 'sour' / 'wet oak' note in there. The flavor is certainly sour with a ciric acid taste similar to to unsweetened Emergen-C or kumquats without the sweet peel. As I sip the beer and the pint warms, the resinous flavor of the spruce barrels gets stronger and stronger. By the end of the glass I was sure that I had been drinking Retsina wine.

(Side Note: If you are a fan of wood aged beers, you should try this. Not only is it the only beer I've seen that was aged in spruce, but if you Google spruce barrels you'll come up with nothing. These barrels must have been made specially for, or by, Rogue.
If you are also a fan of sour beers, you HAVE TO TRY THIS! )

Overall Impression: As I smelled and tasted my first sips of this beer I was delighted. This was a totally new and complex beer I was imbibing. After 3 sips I was going to give it an A. Unfortunately, with a bit of warmth this beer became one dimensional and lost the characteristics that I initially loved. I think that this beer should be in 12 oz bottles or shared between 4 friends in small glasses.

Grade: B.   (B+ if you love sours or Retsina wine)

This beer was purchased at Tamura's