Barley Island Barrel-Aged Count Hopula

Brewed by Barley Island Brewing
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Noblesville, Indiana USA

Handbottled from trade wth Sprinkle. Pours a nice dark copper color with medium size off white head. Aroma of bourbon, malt , hops and oak. Slight smokey flavor with a bourbon taste in the initial sip. Flavors of malt, vanilla and hops still remain although none dominate the brew. Taste is still very enjoyable with a smooth and balanced finish.

On tap at the Great Taste of the Midwest (8/9/08): Pours a transparent bright copper orange with an airy white head. Aroma of sweet toasty pale malt and sweet light fruitiness with a good resiny piny hop character. Body starts with decent fullness and sweet caramel malts with good balance of hop flavor and bitterness. Finishes smooth and bittersweet, nicely aged and balanced.

On tap. Interesting experiment, but I liked regular Hopula better. Pours a dark amber with an off white head. Aroma is slightly wood and hops, but mostly bourbon. Flavor is everything I loved about Hopula, but with too much booze. Some nice vanilla notes, but bourbon constantly overpowers the Hopula. Just not my style, but would be very interesting if they reused the barrels.

On cask at BI - Aroma of the Hopula Play-Doh hops and malt with lots of oak, vanilla and bourbon. Pours dark mahogany with a medium lasting head and great lacing. Flavor is strong bourbon, too strong. The base beer is hidden under there somewhere but is way overpowered. I had trouble getting it down to be honest.

GTMW 08 on cask - Pours bronze orang with a minimal head. The aroma has lots of vanilla and some bourbon and toasty malt. Medium sticky body with light carbonation. The flavor starts with the aroma traits with more caramel malt and earthy hops. The finish has vanilla and okay dominating everything. This kind of beer is just not down my alley.

Name: BA Count Hopula
Date: 08/09/2008
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewfest, Great Taste

Appearance: clear amber, frothy beige head,
Aroma: sweet caramel malt aroma with liquid hops,
Flavor: sweet bourbon flavor, vanilla sweetness, light balancing hops,
Overall: a pale bourbon ale,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

Aroma is sweet bourbon vanilla. Taste is sweet, hoppy, dank, and vanilla. Flavor was sweet, and earthy, as Ughsmash mentions. Scant notes as I was not impressed.

Cask at GTMW. Poured coppery-amber with a loose cap of beige head. The aroma picked up an interesting interplay of juicy floral notes, sweet bourbon, and vanilla.. unfortunately interesting in a way that they didn’t really go together.. muted the IIPA-ness greatly. The flavor was on the sweet side with restrained floral and earthy bitterness (likely due to aging).. lots of barrel again with sour bourbon and oak all over.. finished bourbon-ey with even more barrel. Too sour on the palate, again with too much of the barrel.