Drakes Barley Wine Brandy Barrel

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

Thanks to Dark Elf for this. 6 oz bottle served at 55 degrees in a brandy snifter. Pours a brownish red with a thin ring of tan bubbles dotting the rim of the snifter. Smells of brandy, molasses, figs, vanilla, oaky wood, citrus, caramel, toffee and underlying butteriness. Taste is of tarte cherries, sour, brandy, wood, caramel, warming mellow alcohol, which is surprising for a beer this high in alcohol, some citrus and peaches, orange peel, and sherry. Palate is full and oily. The alcohol is well masked on this one.

6 oz. bottle poured a clear dark burnt red with a small diminishing tan head. Aromas of dark fruit, molasses, a hint of oak, carmel and vanilla. Palate was medium bodied. Flavors of plum, apple, carmel, light oak and a hint of grape with a warming lingering sweet finish.

this little 6 oz. gem was provided courtesy of Saarlander, thanks Aaron. while BW’s have not always been a favorite style for me, this one really hit the spot! aroma of sweet grains, wood and dark fruit. flavors had more of the same with additional notes of brown sugar, vanilla and hints of the brandy. not much in the way of hops or carbonation, an all around nice balance to it. some like the fresh, in your face BW’s, but give me all of the aged mellow ones and I’d be very happy.

Pours a swampy, ruddy, muddy brown with little to no head. Aroma is so good that my descriptive writing skills, or lack there of, and limited vocabulary, absolutely cannot put it into words. I’ll try though. The aroma is rich with fermented fruit, caramel, toffee, vanilla, booze, and lots of wood. After letting it warm up in the glass for a bit, I dared to take a sip. Your mouth is greeted with an onslaught of caramel, breadiness and brown sugar flavor followed by an intense fruitiness that seems to balance itself perfectly. An earthy woodiness also shines through complimenting the other flavors. Alcohol definitely makes a presence at the ending letting you know who’s boss. The body is very chewy, but still somehow drinkable. Why oh why does this come in the 6 oz. bottles.

6oz. ottle courtesy after4ever. Pours a murky mahogany with a thin and fading white head. Aromas of toffee, wood, fruit. Full, almost syrupy body with minimal carbonation. Smooth and lightly nutty taste with fruit, spice and wood. Oaky finish.

6-oz., courtesy Tever. Thanks! Pours murky brown with a thick bubbly tan head and clear amber highlights. Humongous fruity and oaky nose--there’s a rawness to the wood smell, almost sawdust-like. Chewy molasses and port fragrances, too. Slightly phenolic and sharply boozy. All this stuff comes through on the palate, as well, along with no shortage of red wine grapes and grape/brandy sugar. There’s not a lot of carb (looks perfectly still in the glass, other than the head and the lace). Thick, sticky beer, but not syrupy or cloying. That’s an amazingly drinkable body for 26 plato. The oak sneaks up on you at the finish, especially as it warms to room temperature and then hand temperature in the snifter. Big, bold, very complex, probably too assertive to be truly astonishing, but very, very good. Wish I had more. A lot more.

An amazing amount of complexity here, with so many well extracted fruit flavors from the barrel. A large, enjoyable body with bountiful aromas as well. A tremendous brew. Thanks Drakes.

Bottle provided via trade with realale420. Pours a cloudy and muddy dark nutty brown with some light patchy tan head, edgy. Aroma is heavy caramel and brown sugar, maple malt (cookie), roasted nuts, yeast (dough, earth), floral hops, wood nose. Medium acidic and bitter hop start, wood notes, sugary brandy, caramel roasted malt. Full and warm bodied, slightly spicy palate.