Well, I was wrong in the above statement because, right now it, is both. Nine days into this beer’s life, and it is very cool and interesting AND impossible to drink.  This one shouldn’t be served in a pint glass or a brandy snifter, but it might be wonderful in a deep bowl over a heaping scoop of rice and some tofu.

I’ve worked with spices enough to know that this will fade but not to the degree it needs to.  This was a small 2.5 gallon batch, like all my crazy experiments are, and that is good for two reasons:  1) If things doesn’t work out, it is not as painful to dump out and it didn’t cost as much as a full batch.  2) If it needs to be diluted, I can brew a second 2.5 gallon batch without spices and blend the two. 

I will be doing #2, but #1 is still a option down the road

The silver lining on this is that the batch might be fine after blending, and oak-aged English pale I brewed on the same day tastes amazing so far.