- Julia Thiel
Inspired by ponche, the traditional Mexican Christmas punch, the great minds at 5 Rabbit have come up with a monster of a barleywine (11.5 percent alcohol), brewed with muscat and Concord grapes, apple juice, orange peel, Mexican cinnamon, cassia buds, date syrup, and cloves. Ponche was released just before Christmas, but I picked up a bottle a couple of weeks ago at Trader Joe’s, and it still appears to be widely available.
The heat made it taste sweeter, more citrusy and grapey, and heavier than the cold version, with more vanilla, milk chocolate, dates, and prunes. But at the same time that heating the beer intensified the flavors, it muddled them, making them difficult to pick out; maybe it was just the novelty of drinking hot beer, but I couldn’t quite figure out what to make of it. It’s a little like mulled wine with less intense spices, and while it’s an interesting experiment, I was relieved to go back to the cold version. I’d like to pick up another bottle and try heating it more gently, though, this time with the suggested cinnamon stick and whipped cream (which I skipped because I didn’t want anything to interfere with the taste of the beer).
