Clown Shoes Flight of the Angry Beast

The Stats
Style: Imperial Stout/American Strong Ale
ABV: 10.75%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.31/5
- RateBeer: 3.93/5

Time for another massive Clown Shoes Beer! The "Beast Series" (if you want to call it that) is a line of imperial stouts (or strong ales if you prefer) that are brewed, barrel-aged, and blended. Today's beast (pun intended) is a blend of three different beers...

• Undead Party Crasher: Originally named "Vampire Slayer", this was Clown Shoes 2nd anniversary beer which is a smoked imperial stout. The variant used was aged in bourbon barrels.
• Blaecorn Unidragon: The original dragon stout. This is a basic imperial stout, but for this, it was aged in scotch barrels.
• Billionaire: English Barleywine aged in scotch barrels. 

The final product is blended together to create Flight of the Angry Beast.

Pours black like motor oil with ruby red on the edges. It produced less than a finger of tan head.

Wow, that aroma has a lot going on. Big milk chocolate and oak with bourbon. A nice helping of roasted malts, with toffee, caramel, dark fruits, and a big sweet kick from the scotch.

The first initial flavors that come through are from the Barleywine with its sweet malts and dark fruits with cherry and a splash of vanilla and caramel. I'd say this has more in common with a big Russian Imperial Stout since it has not only big roasted notes and some coffee, but like the Barleywine, it has a noticeable cherry presence. Again, really nice coffee and it has great char and oak from the barrels. As it warms, the chocolate is getting bigger and bolder with some dark chocolate bitterness , but also fluffy milk chocolate.

Mouthfeel is perfect for a double-digit abv barrel-aged beer. It's very thick and luscious and coats my tongue at every turn. I have memories of Clown Shoes barrel-aged beers being extremely "hot" out of the gate, but in recent years they have stepped their game with these massive offerings and this beer is no exception as I get absolutely no alcohol smell or taste with not even a warming felling in my chest or throat with each sip.

Flight of the Angry Beast actually reminds me of the Firestone Anniversary ales with the blending of several beers and the use of multiple spirit barrels.If you had to imagine what a great BA stout and a great BA Barleywine would taste like when combined, then this is pretty much what you would get. Each style represented does not dominate, but instead, they work as a cohesive unit to accent one another. Definitely a big beer to be sipped on for hours, but the complexity and drinkability are through the roof, but just promise to take it slow and savor everything it has to offer.

Rating
9.1/10

Clown Shoes Rexx

The Stats
Style: American Amber/Red Ale
ABV: 12.0%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.15/5
- Ratebeer: 3.7/5

In the past year or so, I think Clown Shoes has been dialed in when it comes to these massive barrel-aged beers. Years ago I thought most of them were too hot out of the gate and required some aging, but today, I think they are ready to go fresh off the line. I've stuck mainly to their imperial stouts, but now I'm diving into an interesting offering. Rexx is an imperial red ale aged in bourbon barrels. I've never had a BA red ale, so hopefully getting my cherry popped with this experience is memorable.

Pours an insanely murky dark red transitioning into a muddy brown. It had less than a finger of a dark egg shell or even yellowish head.

The aroma shares the same characteristics with a lot of great English Barleywines, particularly of toffee and caramel. The bourbon is right there in your face and there's just a sprinkle of pine.

A bigger malt presence is definitely noticeable on the first swig as is the obvious fact that everything from the aroma, while here and accounted for, is toned down several notches. I don't know what it is about the bourbon plus the red ale, but dark fruits, figs, and raisins are prominent and even dominating. The base red ale is here with notes of pine and some bitter hops. There's somewhat of a molasses flavor to this and it is actually reminding me of a well-made English Old Ale. The sweetness of the bourbon helps even out some of the more malty aspects and some nice oak lends even more barrel character to this.

Mouthfeel for a big 12% beer feels a little thin. I don't think it makes great use of its weight, but it is not what I'd call watery. As I mentioned earlier, Clown Shoes barrel-aged beers no longer seem to burn with alcohol when they are fresh and this is proof positive of that fact as this has no alcohol taste and no heat or warming for such a big beer.

Rexx retained the base Red Ale, but added several barrel characters. Oddly enough, it seemed like the finished product produced a completely different style whether it was Barleywine or Old Ale. In any case, there were flavor profiles pulled in from multiple styles with a big bourbon and oak kick which made this a complex brew. A thin mouthfeel held it back from reaching a higher level, but this is still another solid entry  for Clown Shoes barrel-aged beers.

Rating
8.5/10