Drakes Barley Wine Bourbon Barrel

Formerly brewed at Drakes Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
San Leandro, California USA

6 oz bottle. Murky brown, no head. Nose of toasted caramel, chocolate, grass and mild bourbon. Smooth and buttery with a hint of carb. Taste is vanilla, smoky toffee, a touch of orange peel and bourbon. One of the best bourbon barrel brews i’ve tried.

Series #4 6oz nip bottle. Poured completely flat. I can smell the vanilla and bourbon from the bottle. Aroma in the glass is a bit more intense bourbon. There’s also quite a bit of vanilla. The flavor is a lot better than the aroma had me expecting. There is plenty of smooth vanilla and almost a coke-a-cola character. There really isn’t much carbonation but I think its perfect for this beer. Sweet, a touch hot, but really nice. Cool note: front of the bottle says 10.37% alcohol, while the back of the bottle says 11.1%. 7/3/8/5/18

Big thanks to Degarth and Ibrew2or3 for this beauty. Pours a still muddy brown syrup with no head to speak of.Smells of plums, candied sugars, and caramel.Flavor is much of the same caramel,figs,sugar ,and maple syrup. Palate was very nice it coats the tongue well and sits there for awhile a small amount of carbonation is present.

6oz bottle. thanks to odeed for this one. pours brown with no head. nose of bourbon, caramel, port. flavor of bourbon, sour vegetable, toffee. blah.

Shared by eclectic. Hazy light brown body with no head. The nose is very sweet and vinous with bourbon, oak, vanilla, caramel and toffee. The flavor is very sweet with toffee, light oxidation, toffee, golden raisins and alcohol. Full body is soft with light carbonation. Finish is astringent and warm.

6oz bottle picked up at Ledger’s in Berkeley. Pours a brackish brown navy bean soup and almost no head. The aroma is simply huge to start. It smells like a chocolate rum cake. Wow, amazing aroma. I get creamy toffee, caramel and chocolate. Next I picked up a big ole whiff of alcohol. There’s also the standard barleywine dark fruitiness coming from prunes and dates. I even smell that a loud truck drove by while they were bottling this bottle. It smells like an uneven unspoken moment of tension. It’s faint but it’s there. The flavor does not disappoint after the aroma has set the plate. Smooth and rich with an initial burst of caramel candy. This is gooood. The dark fruitness enters just after with prunes and dates. Then by midway the malt richness returns with toffee, creamy caramel candy and chocolate. There is also an understated woodiness running through the backyard of the flavor experience toting along a splash of booze. It is toasty too. This one really comes together for me.

6oz bottle, thanks eclectic! Dark brown, with little to no head. Intense bourbon and oak aromas warm into layers of rich dark fruits and notes of vanilla toffee cream. Bold flavors of all the above are well balanced, smooth, and slick from start to finish. Medium to full bodied with pillow soft carbonation. Fantastic brew, but 6oz bottles are absurd. I want at least a 12 oz to sip by the fireplace...

(6oz bottle, thanks eclectic) Clear dark brown body with no head. Aroma is moderately sweet, plum/raisin, smoke/roast, some chocolate, light Bourbon. Taste is sweet, cherry/chocolate, some alcohol. Sticky full body with no carbonation. Decent sipping beer -- the nip bottle is the right size, as there’s no way you want more in a single sitting.