Memphis's Wiseacre Brewing's Holy Candy dubbel poured from the bomber and into my tulip glass a hazy, murky brown with a slight beige head. That bit of foam quickly went away. This brew looks a lot like really muddy creek water as I swirl it around in the glass. There is some sloppy lacing which quickly breaks up and falls back into the beer.
Thankfully, the smell turns this around quickly for me. Immediately, I smell bright fruit notes - such as apricot - on my first sniffs of Holy Candy. After the first impression, much of the aroma centers on caramelized sugar. The glass also reveals a breath of red wine booze. As the glass warmed, I could smell molasses entering the mix, replacing the slightly lighter caramelized sugar.
Caramel registered first on my tongue when I took a drink, but flavors of plums and apricots were also mixed into the taste. I get a little bit of grass from the hops. It is just a slight accent within the abundant malt and yeast sweetness. Holy Candy tastes darker and slightly more roasted as the ale warms.
Medium body with mild carbonation. While the carbonation provides some body, the flavors are fairly dense and does affect drinking pace for me.
I left about a third of the bomber and vacuum-corked it. In 24 hours, the most obvious change is that the grass and bitterness from the hops was more noticeable in the taste than the previous night. Smell is basically how I described in my notes from the night before. Overall, Wiseacres's Holy Candy did well split between the two days.
This was my first time trying a beer from Wiseacre Brewing. I was very pleased with this dubbel.
