Today Ryan and I are sharing a Baltic Porter from Boulevard Brewing, one of our favorite breweries. Aged in red wine and bourbon barrels. Interesting. Open the bottle and immediately smell the red wine. And it's boozy. Looks like a cola leaving the bottle and entering the glass. A translucent reddish brown. Lots of effervescence that dies down. Swirl the glass and it comes right back. Aroma from the glass is still red wine but now with a trace of bourbon and dark malt. Take a sip and there's still a lot of effervescence and seems way more potent than the 11 and a half percent on the bottle. The red wine seems to be a Cabernet, a distinct oak barrel flavor, a hint of bourbon and a mild deep roasted malt. The alcohol is over dominating and there is just too many bubbles. We are trying this while it's pretty cold so we decided to let it warm and swirl it some to release the carbon dioxide. That worked wonders. Much better balance of flavors. The red wine, traces of oak, bourbon, roasted malt and maybe even a little chocolate in the finish, are no longer competing. Less carbonation made everything smooth and even. If you are able to try this, which I recommend, let it breathe a little, give it a swirl, and let it calm down. It'll be worth it.