Drakes Barley Wine Brandy Barrel

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

Good looking small bottle, just big enough for this heavy beer. Pours dark brown with a small tan head. the aroma has a alcohol burn to it, behind it there is soya, dirt, cheese and caramel malt. The taste is much the same, but a bit oxidated and salty. It´s a bit thin for such a strong beer, but it´s quit good!

Bottle thanks to cquiroga, shared with badnewsbeers. Rich deep brown body with orange-reddish highlights, thin off-white head. Strong burnt caramel aroma with potent alcohol and piney, grapefruity hops, oxidized, with a mineraly medicinal quality reminding BNB of Flintstones vitamins. Sharp alcohol and sweet caramels warm the palate, with plenty of earthy oxidation, brandy, soy, and brown sugar. Tart sweetness almost verges on the sour. Raisiny. A heavy, sweet, big beer worthy of high accolades.

Brown pour with a small head and blah lacing. Aroma is bourbon, caramel, dark fruits, wood. Flavor brings this, quite boozy. Very sweet as expected. Despite the massive body of this, I was bored with it. Enjoyable, but not worth the bother of trading or the fact that its only a 6oz bottle.

Tiny bottle, courtesy of my secret santa. This one was on my list for a long time. Cracked it at around 42 (too cold, I know), but with the small volume it warmed really quickly. Not getting much out of the aroma but toffee and licorice, a touch of brandy. Maybe a tinge of red wine if I really dig for it. Pour is a syrupy brown with no head. Flavor has a lot of soy, licorice. Brandy comes through a little, perhaps. Maybe my sips are too small because this is so rare and so tiny a sample. Bigger sips definitely open this beer up, but it’s still not doing much for me. Palate is perfect though, especially at 15%. Thick and luscious and not boozy at all. I’m sad I didnt’ enjoy this more.

Get some caramel,brown sugar and some wood in the aroma.Pours dark brown with a small tan head.A nice sweetness in the flavor.Medium to full mouthfeel with an alcohol bite in the finish.

Bottle. Nose-oats, rabbit feed, honey, wet corn flakes. Body-, muddy, very dark amber, almost flat. Taste-maple, alcohol, soy, unami, just not a lot going on here except soy. Is this Sam Adam Triple Bock Light?

Many thanks to Beerguy101 for giving this to me when he visited Nashville. Ross also popped one open while we chatted on AIM. Pours deep reddish brown, with no head. What a nice aroma of brandy, dark fruit, brown sugar, light molasses, and faint alcohol. Oily mouthfeel and soft carbonation. Complex mix of flavors going on, cherry, figs, maple, and brandy (duh!). The middle is oaky and mildly sweet. I do pick up the alcohol on the finish, and it gives you some boozy hotness on the way down. A definite after dinner sipper. I would like to see more brandy barrel beers released to give us a break from the bourbon barrel beers. Thanks Mitch for this rare gem. Feel free to visit Nashville anytime!

Bottle from Bert (slob) Thanks!!! Man, I have wanted this one for quite some time, and today I get this box from bert, and there is one sitting in there. Upon opening the entire area around me now smells like sweet brandy and oak. Smelling the glass yeilds more of the same. Smell is full of caramel, plums, cherries, oak, some vanilla, and figs. Taste is rich and thick, very thick actually. Alcohol is not noticed at all. There is a nice sweetness to it, and it does have alot of notes of figs in it, and it almost tastes like a fig newton. The cherry is more noted in the smell, than in the taste. A really good after dinner sipper beer. God knows what this bottle costs, and I hate 6 oz bottles. Id like to see this put into 750s. Really good stuff, I beleive the first beer I have had from a brandy barrel, and I like this much more than I do the bourbon barrel stuff. If this beer looked better in the glass, it would get higher marks. Thanks Bert!