Barrel House Belgian Winter Ale

Brewed by Barrel House Brewing Company
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Cincinnati, Ohio USA

This is well carbonated as a reasonably soft pour easily produces almost a four-finger thick, amber tinged, tan colored head in my 25cl tulip glass. The beer is an opaque, concentrated red-amber color as it sits on the table, but shows a clear, cranberry-red color when held up to the light. The aroma is sweet and fruity up front with a kick of toasty malt towards the finish. Aromatic notes evocative of caramelized fruit (prunes, raisins and even a touch of tart tamarind), toffee, a touch of rum-like character (light molasses perhaps) are found up front but seem to not have much staying power. When digging around for a bit some dry, malt driven character is noticeable with touches of toasted crackers, biscuit malt, and a crushed grain character are noticeable. The aroma is fairly appetizing, but somehow does note have a lot of presence after the initial surge of sweet grain / fermentation aromatics.

Lightly sweet and definitely a bit tart in the finish; it is not so tart that this is necessarily attributable to an infection, instead it is quite light and certainly pleasant. Fairly light bodied & along with the light body is a bit nicer than suggested by the somewhat sweet aromatic intimations. A toasty malt backbone gets a hint of roastiness to it at times, but mostly reminds me of lightly toasted whole grain bread, and whole grain crackers. Since the sweetness is soft here the fruit flavors are not quite as prominent as suggested in the aroma; this causes the tamarind notes to play a slightly bigger role, but the raisin notes are still pretty noticeable. A nice prickly carbonation couples quite well with the soft mouthfeel & residual body to make this a chewy, yet easy drinking beer; the mix is just about perfect for a Belgian-Dubbel inspired beer.

A pretty good beer, the flavor and aroma are nice, but the texture is just about perfect for a beer of this inclination. I do like the dimension that the light tartness adds to this brew, it adds a much needed complexity as I think this beer would be much to shallow without it.

This solid mahogany brew is one that evokes grandma’s holiday cookies. The nose hints at apricot tea, molases and gingerbread. With a thin and mildly creaming mouthfeel, the taste brings molasses-sweet malt, caramel and orange clove...happy holidays. Audio pairing: "Don’t Know Why" - Norah Jones

Thanks to BigErn. Pours an opaque dark toffee color with a rich mocha head. Nose of sweet malts, light brown sugar, subtle winter notes. Flavor is sweet malts mixed with toffee, allspice and some weak coffee. Body is thinner than I’d like.

Sample at the Dilly Deli. Pours a dark reddish-brown color with a medium thin beige head that diminshes slowly. Top ring of lace with speckles underneath. Sweet malt, plums and berries in the nose, plus a touch of yeast. Medium-bodied with a tart fruity character. Sweet malt and caramel flavors are present, along with some banana and yeast. The finish is tart and short with a slight woody hops finish. Decent overall.

Reddish brown color out of the bottle. Short lived beige head that ended up as a lasting ring in the glass. Funky nose that smells like cherry scented Play-Doh. Come caramel and toffee sweetness with a little burnt toast. Tart cherries and something like rancid orange juice in the background. Not a big fan.

On draft at "Kaldi’s" coffeehouse in Cincinnati, Ohio - This brew is a very dark mahoganey-hued liquid with a tall, fine-bubbled white head and a sweet malt-and-allspice aroma. Tastewise, I think this one lis a bit lacking in body, but it’s vanilla-spice sweetness flavor is quite nice.

Bottle courtesy of alexsdad06. Pours a reddish brown with a thin tan head. Smells of roses, candy, plums, figs, prunes. Taste yields touches of tartness, wood, some caramel, hints of bitterness and touches of spice. Very slight lactic quality as the beer warms. Interesting.

650 ml bottle

I picked this up on a run, tried it a week ago and am finally getting around to logging the rating. This puts me one step closer to the ever elusive 1000 milestone as well as another Ohio beer. For a state that gets so many excellent imports from elsewhere there are some solid breweries as well. Barrel House has yet to let me down - I look forward to finding the rest of their lineup over the next year.

Aroma / Appearance - Chestnuts, oak and chocolate dipped bananas dominate but there is a hint of vanilla underneath. The sweetness of the aroma permeates the air with the smell of topioca pudding. A burgandy colored body results from the pour along with a one finger lemon yellow head. There may or may not be carbonation; it was hard to tell through the glass.

Flavor / Palate - The first sip yields chocolate and roasted malts. Next comes ripe bananas, slightly overcooked toast and a hint of gas station coffee. The total experience is enjoyable but with a few minor flaws. Still, for the price ($4.49) you cannot argue with this one.