Drakes 15th Anniversary Bourbon Barrel Lager

Formerly brewed at Drakes Brewing Company
Style: European Strong Lager
San Leandro, California USA

Big thanks to Dave Cooks for this. The pour is muddy deep brown with a lot of floaties and a small khaki head. The aroma is big, with bourbony malts, oaky dark fruit, brown sugar, cinnamon, hops, and blackberries. The flavor is very oaky and bourbony, with a lot of malty figs, and a tartness that never gets sweet. Medium palate that is slightly aqueous. As it warms, it gets very much like a straight single malt bourbon.

Bottle... Murky, brown lager with no head. Big malt, wood and sourmash aroma. Malty, bourbony, sweet flavor up front. Hops and alcohol bitter it up a bit on the backside. Full-bodied and mostly smooth with pillow-soft carbonation. Finishes failry mellow despite the big alcohol. Woodsy too. Very nice. Thanks go out to Tever for the bottle!

A nipper bottle bought at Hollingshead. Murky brown color with a minimal head, the nose and flavor are basically bourbon. this is a whiskey beer and a bit one dimensional

6 oz bottle, via beerguy101. Pours a cloudy and slightly murky copper/brown color with a thin whispy white head. Some sediment in bottle. Aroma is a mix of bourbon, heavy toffee and caramel maltiness, alcohol, and some sherry. Flavor is big bourbon, alcohol, and sherry up front, fading to a drying hot alcoholic finish with an almost single malt scotch character. Some oxidation present. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, but all the alcohol thins out the finish. Minimal fine carbonation. I just can’t get too into the barrel beers from these guys. They’re OK, but too alcoholic and not a whole lot of complexity to them in my opinion.

From Bottle. Pours a rich cherry brown with a small layer of white head that reduces quickly to a thin, wispy ring. Thick sugary bouquet that reminds me of a mild fruit beer. Over ripe raspberries, chocolate covered cherries, and lightly spiced fig jump out right away. Upon further examination, a hint of bourbony alcohol becomes apparant. This had a very familiar aroma that took me awhile to decipher, but after finally figuring it out, I realized it smelled like the Jamaican Black Cake from the Keweenaw’s Jampot, which definitly confirms the presence of bready bourbon. Impressive aroma, and the flavor also does not disappoint. Roasty, sugary, and oaky all at the same time. A wave of caramelized blackbgerries coat the tongue along with a grilled skirt steak meatiness. Some oaky bourbon characteristics come out next, but bring along an alcohol tinge thats a bit too hot. The heat of the alcohol then fades away, leaving behind a final smack of roasted walnuts and molasses. Very nice overall, but the alcohol is just a bit too hot and interrupts the palate complexity.

6 oz. Bottle Pour of opalescent ruddied brown, with glowing fringes of flame, percolating carbonation, and a swirling thin white head. Aroma is a surprisingly light sour cherries, with oak, light leather, some almost lambicesque wildness and a finish of pinot-like vinous quality. Some creamy caramel flows in somewhere there. Flavor is incredibly rich! Wow. Starts off slowly, but builds into a towering creamy pillar of browned sugars, heavenly molasses, toasted almonds and peanuts, and toffees, harmonizing with a ubiquitous fruit of pears, plums and raisins. Not too heavy on vinous flavors, instead an extremely concentrated flavor, with maybe a touch too much warmth. Out of the dark, comes a creep of quite subtle hops to balance out the symphony of earthy sugars. It’s a touch of parching basil and lemongrass, with a light squeeze of lime. An intricate blend of east and west. Palate is a little hot from the alcohol and a little cloying. It leaves a sugary pecan praline coating on the roof of your mouth. A very nice use of a barrel to bring sophisticated nose to the beer. The overall heat is a little overpowering. Some spicy yeast notes show up later. Thanks Andy!

Little nip bottle from Chris Q: Poured a muddled brown with a fading head and minimal lace, some oily cling however. The aroma is full blown bourbon barrel with lots of vanilla, wood, fig, vinous oxidation, and alcoholic vapor. Some caramel and plum notes detected as well.

The taste is malty and sugary sweet but those bourbon influences quickly show and take over preventing it form becoming cloy. Really vinous and aged tasting which I am digging more than I would have guessed from the nose. Undertones of ripened fruits, vanilla, grains, oak, and whiskey adds good depth of palate. The mouth feel seem lush but is still quite biting, more alcoholic warming than I would care for with this flavor profile.

All in all, I enjoyed this more than I expected. If the barrel influence was toned back a bit, I could see this in the 4+ range.

6oz bottle via trade with Enniskillen - Thanks Chris! - Pours cloudy brown without much head. Aromas of bourbon, oak, caramel, alcohol, and just a touch of chocolate. Flavor contains alot of bourbon, caramel, raisin, some definite alcohol presence. Pretty bold and definitely a good amount of alcohol but it pulls it off well with a soft well rounded smooth palate. Full bodied and overall pretty tasty. The worst thing about this one is that it is in a 6oz bottle.