Is "Griffin's Bow" just a strong ale with clean yeast?

I just opened up a Sam Adam's "Griffin's Bow'.... really, really enjoying it. The bottled calls it a "oaked blonde barley wine ale". From the bottle, it is some proprietary pale malt blend to a 1.096 OG (23.5 plato), along with 45 IBUs worth of Nelson Sauvin and Zeus.

The taste to me is very similar to a Belgian strong ale but without any Belgian character at all. Is that pretty much how a blonde barley wine sets up? I can't find many references for things in this style.

Thoughts? Feelings?

-b

That beer was good, but I didn't care for the oak character. But yeah, take the grain bill for a Belgian strong ale, like a Duvel clone, and up the IBUs with some American or English hops. That would get you close to that beer. Getting it that clean will be hard though. Pitch a ton of yeast and oxygenate it a lot.

I have nothing technical to add really just my thoughts when I had griffin's bow. First, I really enjoyed the experience. I thought there was so much going on with the flavor I couldn't believe it was a blonde BW.