pFriem Rum Barrel Aged Porter

Rum-Barrel Aged Porter by pFriem Family Brewers is being judged as a 33B Specialty Wood-Aged beer, with an underlying style of Baltic porter. At any rate, in the glass, it’s on the lighter side but still dark brown with a thin off-white head that persists. The nose is nice and complex, retaining some fresh character, rather than papery oxidation, leading to some light port notes, supported by a little bit of rum funk. Chocolate, vanilla bean and rich malt add to the complexity and the nose is very inviting overall. On tasting, it’s distinctly sweet, with raisin and zante currants driving the ship. Moderate sweet chocolate and clean ethanol elements are in support. I do wish it had a bit more of a bitter backbone to support the sweetness. On further tasting, some roast comes through to support, but the sugar continues to grow. I feel that the brown sugar notes from the rum kind of push it towards sweet. It tightens back up in the finish, with the wood adding structure. Overall, it’s really tasty and well aged, but I would like to see some more bitterness to really support the sweetness overall. The quality of the spirits is evident, though perhaps a funkier Jamaican-style barrel would make this pop, as this comes across a bit more like a demerara sugar-type character. Fun beer overall, just would like a bit more dryness in the finish.