Lost Generation Brewing Co. - "Ask The Dead" imperial stout

I was doing some spring summer cleaning and found this bottle in the back of my closet - I mean, I knew it was there but since it was my birthday I figured it was as good of a day as any to try! It's called "Ask the Dead" and is Lost Generation's first anniversary bottle release. It's a 12.00% ABV imperial stout, aged for one full year in Catoctin Creek rye barrels. Lost Gen made two variants: one aged on pecans, and the other using Tahitian and Madagascan vanilla beans. 

Says head brewer and owner Jared Pulliam: "[Both beers were] the same base and were in the same type of barrel, but each beer was in a different rye barrel and thus took on a slightly different flavor, to which we tried to pair with the right adjunct." Mine is the pecan variant, bottle #57. Jared also hand-roasted pounds and pounds of pecans to add to the beer. 

Cracks open nicely, and poured into my new Lost Generation tasting glass.

The aroma is pretty mellow and presents some brown sugar and caramel notes. I agitated it a bit and let it come up to temp.

It's pleasantly light! I'm totally over these huge, sludgy, viscous stouts and fortunately this one doesn't fit that bill. I'm getting the pecans for sure, more of the brown sugar, and some charred wood - the rye barrel is a good choice for this beer. But it's easier drinking than you might expect for something like this.The finish is...fresh and a touch sweet; I found myself smacking my lips. The sugar / sweetness comes through at the end for sure. 

The texture and consistency is lighter than it certainly could be, and I personally appreciate it. It's only been cellaring for a couple of years, so I'm not worried that the levity is a function of overaging. I think it's just how the beer was made. Lost Gen makes mostly lighter beers, so it's fun to see something on the darker end - I hope they do more such barrel aging down the road.  

And in line with all the other cool beer names, the source of "Ask the Dead" is from Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls: 

“Never think that war, no matter how necessary nor how justified, is not a crime. Ask the infantry and ask the dead.” 

Never send for whom the beer ages - it ages for thee!