Evolution Craft Brewing Co.
Delmar, DE
Available: DE, MD, VA
Evolution is a craft brewery started in 2009 in Delmar, DE, but now going through the exciting process of expanding and moving into a bigger space in Salisbury, MD. Menagerie #3 is a real big, rich scotch ale, 2/3 of which have been in bourbon barrels for 6 months.
ABV: 9.4
ABW: 7.5
Color: Deep reddish brown
Bitterness: 40
Original gravity: 1085
Slightly hazy, the brown cigar makers call “natural.” There’s the pleasant reek of a bourbon warehouse: sharp, oaky, oozing brown sugar. Oh, my, this is nice. There’s a full malt flavor, shot through with plenty of bourbony vanilla, yet somehow this manages not to clog and cloy. It’s actually pleasantly drinkable, not chunky-style like so many big bourbon beers. Great by itself; perfect with a warm dish of bread pudding.
Deep brown with a smoky, almost musty aroma, the aroma of this beer speaks to two things: oak and strength. Not big bourbon-vanilla oak so much as antique store oak, and more mellow and smooth and kick-in-the-chops power. That character continues on the palate with a velvety maltiness that you don’t drink so much as experience, with oak and vanilla and roasted toffee and fruity brandy notes, finishing firm and warming. A soothing tipple.
Lew Bryson writes about beer and whiskey from his home in southeast Pennsylvania. He has a family and two dogs. That's all you need to know.
Once described as “beerdom's Brillat-Savarin,” Stephen Beaumont is the author of five books and countless articles on beer, spirits, food, travel, and how it all goes together.
