Delicately intricate bourbon-aged strong ale stays soft, fizzy and mildly creamed on the tongue. Almondine, cream soda, oaken vanilla, glazed toffee and butternut squash illusions sidle toasted almond ascension. Subtle bourbon whiskey theme just a tad more striking than similarly styled Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Scottish Ale. Only downside: minor diacetyl aridity briefly outpaces Scotch sweetness. In a can, lilting bourbon sweetness contrasts dry whiskey stead as subtle toasted coconut, praline and pecan illusions file in behind.

Impressively heady second-year collaboration (2011) not far removed from wood-aged stout but listed as American strong ale. Creamy maple and birch syrup provides thick molasses sweetness to naturally carbonated overachiever. Brown sugared toffee-candied Tootsie Roll-like splendor and dark chocolate-y black coffee overtone impact mellow bourbon-port ascension. Black cherry, raisin puree, blackberry and raspberry illusions contrast oats-toasted hop char and black tarred resin. It’s all too much and evolves rather peculiarly, but Big Beer aficionados need apply.

On tap at Barcade, easygoing Belgian-styled strong ale drapes candi-sugared sweetness atop juniper-spiced lemon meringue tartness and ancillary plum-fig conflux. Fluctuant Chardonnay, Reisling and champagne wining will please vineyard socialites.

Beefed-up alternative version of Lucky 13 Red Ale posing as American strong ale brings woody Amarillo hop dryness to richer spiced fruits. Floral-bound pineapple, grapefruit and peach tropicalia increases honey-roasted caramel malt sweetness contrasting parched oaken bittering.

Zestful saffron-hazed Belgian strong ale brings effervescent floral fruiting to peppery hop spicing and fungi yeast scamper. Abundant kiwi, mango, guava, pineapple, peach and orange tropicalia as well as advertised apple-pear flavoring sweetened further by creamy cotton-candied crystal malting of refined bottle-conditioned slow sipper. Sugary Brussels lace lines glass.

On tap at Andy’s Corner Bar, detailed saffron-glowed Belgian strong ale brings yellow-fruited goodness to creamy honeyed malting and gin-soaked ethanol astringency. Convincing lemony orange-peeled banana bubblegum entry given white-peppered coriander-clove spicing, candi-sugared apricot-pineapple-pear contingency, and faded floral whimsy. ’16 bottled version: candied lemon tang picks up brisk orange twist, light floral herbage and sweet banana-clove-coriander respite.

Colossal champagne-styled strong ale, circa 2011, provides well-rounded complexities almost overrun by a few uncertain peculiarities. Brewed in conjunction with Germany’s respected Weihenstephan, heady nectar retains wispy effervescence despite walloping 10.3% alcohol whir. Bubbly champagne flow picks up floral white-peppered hop bite contrasting initial red licorice spell as well as bustling orange-bruised apple, cherry, blueberry, and apricot fruiting (perhaps unwittingly hinting at Belgian tripel styling). Subsidiary pineapple, mango, cantaloupe, and peach tropicalia coats creamy cognac center. Teasing barleywine, brandy, banana liqueur, and rum illusions graze piercing spiced gin stint. But abstruse notions of perfume-oiled pinuad hair tonic and after-shave lotion may turn off less adventurous drinkers.

Elaborate brown-bodied tan-headed (9.1% alcohol) strong ale just a tad too mellowed out for perfection. Brown-sugared molasses-sapped vanilla bourbon entry picks up oak-chipped port-wined Merlot warmth, dried-fruited raisin-plum-fig subsidy and minor coffee roast above earthen peat malting. Serve to experimental porter-stout aficionados or fruitier barleywine lovers.

Arousing Belgian-styled strong ale with loud carbolic blast gains red-fruited resilience above funky farmhouse yeast fungi and brusque white-peppered herbage. Tangy cherry, apple, peach, and nectar illusions plus ancillary lemon-seeded white grape souring flutter through floral grassy-hopped bittering to nut-roasted bottom. Wavering buttered pecan backdrop keeps mild alcohol astringency at bay. Well-defined Belgian IPA maintains robustness.

Boundless whiskey-barreled helles bock takes popular Dead Guy Ale on an intricate journey. Rum-soaked alcohol burn spreads across lingering butterscotch, marzipan, and almondine sweetness, cinnamon-toasted nutmeg spicing, and floral-hopped juniper bittering. Whiskey-smoked Jim Beam/ Jack Daniels illusions amplify caramel-chocolate malting to oaken vanilla finish. Tertiary walnut-hazelnut snip receives latent cocoa powdering. Just a tad less creamy than expected.

Engrossing burnished copper English strong ale, aged in oak casks and matured for over a year, retains creamy Samuel Smith-defined molasses malt trait above soothing Newcastle Brown Ale-like almond buttering. Terrific whiskey-soaked Maraschino cherry frontage gains chewy vanilla-butterscotch sweetness alongside honeyed rye-pumpernickel caking to complement midrange apricot, tangerine and red grape tang. Tertiary chestnut, macadamia, and pecan illusions emboss dry-fruited rum raisin, stewed prune and bourbon nuances at earthen fungi bottom.