Perennial Artisan Ales "Vermilion Winter Ale"

Personally, I'm incredibly excited about Perennial's arrival in Richmond! This was the second beer I tried from these guys out of St Louis Missouri.

There's a bit of a buzz surrounding this brewery and after enjoying 2 of their offerings it's apparently a much deserved buzz!

"Vermilion" is an English Barleywine of a hefty 10.5 % ABV. English Barleywines are some of my favorite beers. Unlike their American counterparts, English versions of these decadent beers generally have no hop profile to be found. Just big chewy , toasty, caramel indulgence.

While Perennial is quite an American brewery their take on this classic English style did not disappoint! In fact, had someone handed me a glass and told me to guess I'd have guessed it was imported! The high ABV was completely masked by huge notes of sweet caramel. As with keeping in line with the style I got almost no hop presence in the nose or taste. The body on this beer was fantastic as well! Big mouth filling richness! Color was deep chocolate brown. An insanely great beer!

I enjoyed this traditional English Barleywine with some spicy general tso's chicken (my wife was craving Chinese take out) and while I had been a little worried about the pairing it worked quite splendidly.

4.5 out of 5

I will definitely seek this beer out again. And I'm jazzed to try more from Perennial Artisan Ales!