Beermanns Bourbon Barrel Barleywine

Brewed by Beermanns Beerwerks Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Lincoln, California USA

Sample glass, RateBeer Southeastern Gathering. Brown sugar and buttery/sautéed flavors. Deep red- brown body. Heavily sweet throughout with a Raisinet taste. Medium-heavy body, creamy texture, soft carbonation. The bottom line is: thankfully not over the top on the bourbon.

Orangish apperance. Taste was a mixture of sweet and sour. The alcohol was quite noticeable but the flavor was dominated by its sweetness. Some citrus and whiskey came through. Not one of the better barley wines out of the few I've had.

Pours light brown with thin head. Has a vinaigrette nose. Caramel flavored with some fruity sourness and a mild blast of alcohol.

What a treat...thanks to belgianhomebrew for hooking this up. Definitely a lighter english rendition of the style. NIce Barleywine with some toffee flavors and some vanilla probably picked up from the oak. Heavy presence of the typical oak barrel aged stuff.

Murky, caramel colored ale with a small, sudsy, off-white head. The nose is perfect... probably one of the greatest things I have ever smelled. Huge butterscotch and vanilla notes along with plenty of caramel and sourmash whiskey. The malts stand apart and above the whiskey notes; this is unusual in my experience with bourbon barrel aged beers. Excellently balanced flavor. Notes of butterscotch, toffee, white wine, alcohol and lemon rind. A bit thin for a barley wine, but medium-bodied with an astringent mouthfeel and lively carbonation. Short, dry, tart finish with a shot of bourbon in the end. I cannot emphasize enough how much I love the aroma of this beer! Thanks to brewbandit for the bottle! Drink up!

Woody, boubon/cognac aroma. Filtered ruby color. Why was this not bottle conditioned? Fruited toffee truffle, light buttery walnut and pineapple notes. Definitely a lighter, English style, which I don't feel works as well with the bourbon aging as well as the heavier version of the style. Tasty, however and thanks to Mitch for letting us sample it.

1 QT. 1.8 oz. bail-top: Luminous rust. Creamy, retentive dusty-white froth. Stunning nose comprised of slick fruits and bourbony coconut essences. Hints of rum-soaked papaya, sherbet, toasted sugar, dates, plums, and melted toffee. Rounded bourbon replaces the malt sweetness. Soft, plush body. Dense, mellow bubbles make it seem burlier and chewier than it really is. Just gorgeous. Starts with ripe, rum-soaked papaya notes and heaps of graham and caramel. Traces of toasted bourbon cask surface underneath a raw, nutty malt note and an impenetrable wall of fruits doused in alcohol. Sneaky, tight, brash, piney hop bitterness at the backside leaves behind slick mango, papaya, and soft coconut. Lipsmacking sugared, powdery malts and fresh honeydew find their way into the mix. Tropical fruit tart flavors linger with a touch chocolate, coconut, oak, and caramel. Each at different intervals, the hops and malts deceptively assert themselves. An ensuing soft, fruity hop belch, to boot. Quite the change of pace from numerous other barleywines.

A very nice barleywine, a little liter than I care for them to be, but quite enjoyable and nicely complex. The aroma is very woody and the taste is somewhat like a fine cognac. The taste is very earthy and has nice hints of vanilla, the bite of alchohol in the aftertaste, but very warming like drinking bourbon. A little pricey, but when you drink it you definitely know where you money went.