Elevator Brewing turns 15 tomorrow! And though this was impressive enough on its own, they decided to mark the occasion by brewing a true leviathan of a beer – Horus, a 12% Imperial Red Ale that has been aged in Woodford Reserve Bourbon barrels until it morphs into a Barleywine strong enough to make your grandma cry (don’t worry, they’re tears of joy). Forget the cake, I’ll take one of these for my birthday.
On the nose, this is one of the more massive brews you might ever encounter. Huge barrel-notes of vanilla, oak and toasted coconut greet you from the onset, laced with an alcohol harshness that cuts away at the lingering sweetness in each breath. Grape Nuts and bread toast malts slide in beneath, alongside a heaping handful of darkfruits, specifically plums and raisins. Brown sugar and caramel arrive in full force, slightly burnt and working to boost the massive malt qualities even higher. Near the end, the complexity explodes, as notes of chocolate, molasses and smoke cast a darkness over each breath, multiplied and enhanced by the barrel agedness. To put it plainly, it smells like some kind of forbidden magical elixir (presumably made from the tears of vanquished angels), that only the most worthy are allowed to sample. In other words, it’s damn majestic.
But, for as massive and complex as the aroma is, the power of the first taste is almost unbelievable. Each sip begins with a sticky raisin sweetness, drizzled with caramel and brown sugar, arriving with an almost cognac-like quality. Grape Nut malts show up next, completely inundated with barrel notes and alcohol strength. Toasted coconut and vanilla (both with an edge of oak char) rise to the top while bread and caramel malts sink to the bottom and support with all of their potent glory. Bittersweet chocolate and sticky molasses trickle in at the back of each taste, taking position beneath the darkfruits, while smoke notes pop up here and there, adding some darkness. Surprisingly, the razor-sharp edge of alcohol that I was expecting is almost completely masked at the beginning of each taste, forced beneath by the sweetness of the darkfruits. But, as each drink coats your mouth, the alcohol emerges as a potent burn at the back of tongue, trickling down the throat with a rumbling fire. The end of each drink arrives with notes of burnt marshmallow and toffee, alongside even more caramel malts and brown sugar. Vanilla and coconut continue to flow, sitting on your tongue as a reminder of just how long this beer was kept in that barrel. Even once you have finished drinking, the flavors linger on as alcohol-infused raisins, toasted sugars and oak, refusing to let go of your taste buds.
The best way to describe drinking this beer is to imagine watching the Kool-Aid man burst through your wall as he drunkenly screams “Oh Yeah!” just before he headbutts you right in the face, only then to discover that he’s full of beer, not Kool-Aid. Elevator’s Horus is the epitome of massiveness in a bottle, and it does all it can to make sure you’ll never forget that fact. Remarkably complex and hugely powerful, Horus isn’t just an epic beer for an epic anniversary, it’s an epic beer for the world. Head on down to the party tomorrow to buy a bottle. Just be quick about it, supplies are quite limited, and this is one brew you do not want to miss.
