Rating: 7/7

Mash & Spumoni by The Bruery is a 12.8% ABV English Barleywine brewed with cherries, vanilla and pistachios aged in bourbon barrels

==Introduction==…

The ancestor pastry of Neapolitan, this incarnation of Mash from the Bruery takes a page from the Italian version of Neapolitan, a layered ice cream with Chocolate or Vanilla, Pistachios, Cherries and whipped cream (where as Neapolitan is Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla). A trifecta/quadrafecta of pure bliss. The Bruery recently had this on tap and I skipped trying it since I didn’t know about it but when I heard how great it was, I had to get whatever few bit of it they had and bring it to the website. Surely an almost missed treasure of bucket listing proportions. I definitely thought that as I had a pour of it from the tap. I sure don’t know if they will still have this as I write this but it is is true, this should definitely be bottled. Now, let’s have a look at this amazing beer, cheers!

Aromas:
Rich pistachios, cherries, vanilla, chocolate, dulce de leche, bourbon, dark fruit raisins,currants, cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, fruit cake, walnuts, almond joy chocolate, hazelnut cream, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, German Chocolate, Chocolate mousse, crème brulee, flan, sweetened condensed milk, honey, rocky road ice cream, waffle cone, Danish cream, Irish cream, Raspberry Chambord, banan sundae, butterscotch, chocolate brownies and reed velvet cake.

Flavors:
Super rich Spumoni and Neapolitan ice cream, Spumoni pie, dark cherry yogurt, pecan pie, dulce de leche caramel, vanilla, oak, bourbon, marshmallow smores, toasted coconut, pistachios, walnuts, almond joy chocolate, hazelnut cream, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, German Chocolate, Chocolate mousse, crème brulee, flan, sweetened condensed milk, honey, rocky road ice cream, dark fruit raisins,currants, cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, waffle cone, Danish cream, Irish cream, Raspberry Chambord, Mexican Alfajor Coconut pastry, madamia nuts, Macaroons, Chocolate brownies, butterscotch, graham crackers, pistachio ice cream, cookie dough ice cream and mint chocolate chip, red velvet cake, banana sundae.

Aftertaste:
Finishing with rich rich super ice cream flavors right off the scoop and cone of pistachios, cherries, vanilla, chocolate, dark fruit, fruit cake, almond joy, toasted, banana sundae, flan, waffle cone and marshmallows. No alcohol in the taste, smooth and creamy mouthfeel, should be a sipper but drinks way too easy, full black body.

Overall:
The Seed of Life from Monkish was a tincture of something that truly was supreme, but when you take that and make a #barleywineislife recipe and add the cherries, you just entered something that can only be described as inter-dimensional taste of experience. Like the episode 5 of Rick and Morty Season when Rick, Jerry and Risotto Groupon amalgamate their experiences over 1,000 life times of space and time to come to some existential enlightenment, then this is what this beer is like. Funny how the three of them were fused together kind of like the 3 layered fusion of this dessert beer. With a deeper understanding of what Barleywines are supposed to be, even the greats cannot judge something this vast. Most likely since they are drunk but regardless, this is something that is must to find if you can get it! Cheers!

Anime Corner:
Sai Hinoki from Betterman was used in this pairing as I wanted to promote the primary ingredients of cherries, pistachios, chocolate and vanilla. Essentially, you can easily see how her hair streaks of these colors would make for such a perfect pairing. Even though there is hardly any artwork of her as Better such an old series, the appreciation of bringing her into this pairing is what I really needed to do in my quest to pair one of each character of anime/video games that I am fond of to beer.