Beermanns Bourbon Barrel Barleywine

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

Bottled. Clear ruby. Rich toffee aroma. Sweet with plenty of butterscotch, light oakiness and some bourbon flavour. Very malty with mild flavours and some alcohol coming through in the finish. I like the way the hops are subdued leaving room for the malt flavours.

Date: February 21, 2004
Mode: Bottle
Appearance: clear dark amber
Aroma: sweet burbon and buttery carmel malt aroma
Flavor: rich sweet malt flavor, touch of carmel, hint of raison, light bitter finish

Date: February 03, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Appearance: gusher
Aroma: musty dry caramel aroma
Flavor: tart and bitter flavor in an infected way
Overall: unrateable, leaving original score

Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.4/5.0
Score: **4

The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

Dark reddish-amber colour. Warm aroma of malts and an unusual, strong gingerbread cookie note. Strong, burning alcohol with heavy but simple malt notes. Nothing special but certainly a drinkable BW.

No pop upon opening, but the beer comes out of this 1-liter bottle with a large off-white foam that covers the mostly clear (minimal haze) light caramel coloured liquid. Well this one fell victim to the brettanomyces that must run wild in Californian Wine County, especially when you play with the barrels, but fortunately, it might not be all for the worst. Joyous pineapple notes complement the obvious, but not alone bourbon that lets some of its basic oak shows through. Mellow coffee, candied pear and strong vanilla notes lead us to realizing that this is actually quite sweet. For a brett infested beer, this apparently has a fair bit of residual sugars left and in other circumstances, I might declare it underattenuated for the sugaryness it has in the nose. In mouth, I’m called wrong, it feels a lot drier. It is quite complex flavoured, tart, earthy still with a fair bit of vanilla. Light-medium bodied, certainly diminished from its barrel sojourn displays very vigorous, strong carbonation. Well, I feel the regular version would have been better, but this one on the other hand may be less forgettable.

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!

2003 bottle courtesy of belgianhomebrew at the Atlanta gathering. Pours a murky copper brown with a thin off-white head. Rich alcoholic bourbon and caramel malt aroma with some sour oak cherries as well. Body starts bittersweet and tart with nice complexity and bourbon flavor. Finishes dry and tangy with some woodiness and some alcohol. In the end, too much bourbon and not enough barleywine. I think this would benefit greatly from aging a year or two.

Any first impressions?
-A veil of head tops the cascading shades of red.
-Plenty of fruitiness jumps at the nostrils, amongst which tropical specimens shine, clashing with the fatigued barrel character.
-Horseblanket emanations undermine the candied fruitiness and sweet caramel maltiness.
-The mouthfeel is pretty meek for a barley wine, undernourished, or simply victimized by too long of a stay in the barrels.

What if you dig deeper?
-Citrusy hops follow up into blurred resinous hop bitterness.
-I don’t know if the perception of unwanted brettanomyces is playing mind tricks on me, but I am now getting pickles to be in the aroma.
-Straight wood shears a few tastebuds, which, coupled with the rampaging citrusy character, easily recalls Magic Hat’s Chaotic Chemistry.
-This felt like a potent American barley wine whose maltiness was wrongly drained with time...Maybe the swing-top bottle is the culprit?

Bottle #585, vintage 2005.

Chunky dark amber liquid with a few off-white bubbles. Very light aromas with some light fruit and hint of alcohol. Wow, hot cheap whiskey flavors with a touch of caramel malt and cask wood. Seems, young, hot and burning. Perhaps some age will help this one.