Pimp My Sleigh: The Pink Tequila Barrel Edition

I don't drink hard liquor anymore so I never order anything such as a tequila shot or a margarita. The only way I would ever experience hard liquor is when I order a beer that has been aged in the barrels as the liquor. Back when I did many more beer reviews than I do now, I did quite a few bourbon-barrel aged beers, such as Brooklyn's Special Operations or Heavy Seas' Blackbeard's Breakfast. I've even done a review of Hitachino's XH, a beer aged in sake barrels. However, I have never done a beer aged in tequila barrels, let alone pink tequila barrels ... until now. 

The first question that I asked myself is what exactly is pink tequila? The answer involves the barrel aging process, as it is tequila that is aged in red wine barrels. To be sure, aging tequila is not new, there is reposado and anejo, each involving the aging of the liquor. However, that aging usually involves bourbon barrels, which impart specific desired flavors and attributes. There are significant differences when it comes to flavors, as well as color, when it comes to aging in wine barrels.

The use of wine barrels to age tequila is said to have been started by the Real family, who live and produce tequila in Amatitan, which can be found in the Jalisco State of Mexico. The red wine elements from the barrel are said to give the tequila its pink color (hence "pink tequila"), along with floral aromatic notes and berry elements in the flavor. The end result is a tequila rosa.

The Pink Tequila Barrel Aged Pimp My Sleigh pours a dark brown, with lighter tones nearer to the surface. The caramel foam quickly gave way to the beer itself. The alcohol elements are definitely the first things one notices when taking a sniff of the beer. The traditional aromatic elements of the Pimp My Sleigh Christmas Ale seem to get a little lost in the aroma, but that's okay for me. After all, I purchased a tequila-aged beer for a reason, and it was to get something more than the traditional elements. 

That something more is also present in the taste of the beer. With this being the first tequila aged beer that I have had, I was not sure what to expect. The taste tended away from a traditional Christmas Ale toward a barleywine, and even toward the 120 Minute from Dogfish Head. There was a heavy alcohol taste, but the sweetness from the Christmas Ale elements was more present in the taste than in the aroma. 

Only 100 cases of this beer were produced, and that was back around Thanksgiving of 2024. My guess is that the beer is no longer available. If Fat Heads decides to brew it again, it is definitely worth the purchase. You can cellar it and it can remain available longer at your home than at the brewery.

PEACE.