5.8 - The Shadows and The Light

So Cambridge Brewing Company just released a beer that they've been aging for 8 years.. but not in normal fashion.. it's a blend of 3 different beers, barrel-aged, with samples placed in various sized and shaped glass carboys and left in the sun for random amounts of time, then brought back to the cellar.. over and over.. FOR EIGHT YEARS!  That shit ain't 'sposed ta be good for ya beeah!  Let's see what it did!

Cambridge Brewing Company
Shadows and Light - 24th Anniversary Ale (barrel aged & "madeirized") - 10% ABV barrel-aged strong ale. Blend of 2 Barleywines and a strong honey Saison.  This is a gorgeous deep ruby pour, small carbonated head that continues to bubble the whole way through.  There's rich, sweet fruit.. touches of tartness, booze and sweet malts on the nose.  The tartness is the focal point on this brew.. not quite a sour, like a mellow Berliner Weisse.. just right.  Caramel, toffee, cherries, plums..  there's the complexity and smoothness of a nice Sherry or Port with just the right about of booze.. touches of oak and vanilla.  This is ridiculous complex.. it's crazy smooth.. it's just downright effin' delicious!  A perfect gateway drug to sours, or to Sherry/Madeira.  SO SO good!  It can't really be described.. just go get it!

- - 9 hops!

(PS - here's CBC's description)

Continuing our explorations of the boundaries of beer and its interfaces with and influences by other fermentations around the world, Shadows and Light was conceived over nine years ago. Following research into solera systems and unusual winemaking techniques, madeirization caught our attention as a unique method for the production of wine. We have been taught that dramatic temperature fluctuations, oxidation, and sunlight are all detrimental to beer and wine. How, then, do we achieve successful and delicious products like Amontillado sherry, Malvasia madeira, and Banyuls mutage?

And are these and counter-intuitive methods applicable to beer?

We began with three base beers – Arquebus, Blunderbuss, and Biere de Miel. Each has low to moderate hopping, higher alcohol content, reasonable to low hop character, and some residual sweetness. All were barrel-aged for some time, and before service several glass carboys of varying shapes and sizes from three to seven gallons were removed from each. This was repeated over several successive summers. In a labor of love and in the spirit of exploration these carboys were regularly carried up from the CBC Barrel Cellar and placed outside, where they were exposed to direct sunlight for days at a time.

Warmed to very high temperatures by the sun, the beers also expanded in volume within the confines of the glass. At the end of each day the beers were carried back downstairs to the darker, cooler depths of the cellar. As they heated and cooled, expanded and contracted, the beers would “breathe,” drawing in and expelling fresh air from outside and in the cellar. After eight long years of care the best of these individual carboys were selected and blended back together into two American oak barrels to marry for just over two months before being sent upstairs to inaugurate our newest tank, custom built exclusively to house special beers from our Barrel Cellar.

Shadows and Light does indeed reference the oxidized wines of Portugal, Spain, and France, with notes of honey and white wine grapes complemented by malt and caramel. An overall dry palate offers some up-front sweetness, and oxidation plays with notes of almonds, golden raisins, and Oloroso sherry. It finishes with a well balanced acidity. With just a touch of spritzy, frizzante-like carbonation this amazingly complex beer seeks to beguile you and inspire you.

Cheers to the spirit of exploration, expression, experimentation, and (of course) beer!

ABV: 10.0%