Drakes Barley Wine Brandy Barrel

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

Pours silty, murky, and thick. The colour is a dark mahogany with a reddish/brown thin filmy head. Like sticking my nose into a dark over ripe date with a little bit of chocolate, some caramel, and woody sweet hints of brandy. Man this is thick and sticky and kind of reminds me of sipping on some brandy, this 6-oz bottle takes me far longer to drink than many 22-ozer’s. More caramle and woody sweet matl notes with some slightly bitter but barely perceptable hops and a bit of a alcoholic bite at the end.

Tiny 6oz. bottle, thanks a bunch to Tever for hooking me up. Asked Tom if he can send me 3 bottles for the last Heavyweight open house and he graciously threw in a 4th. That one was mine. Poured a murky brown color wioth virtually no head. Not a real pretty looking beer. Aroma is oak, mild sherry, dark dried fruits and chocolate. Flavor starts off mildly sweet with tons of chocolate covered caramels, dates, oak and vanilla. Warming alcohol finish, but would never guess it was anything more than 10%. Reminded me somewhat of a Raspberry Eisbock, sans raspberries. Delicious beer, thanks Tom!

Pours with a wispy, amber tan colored head that sits atop a hazy dark reddish amber colored beer. The aroma is rich and malty with definite hops, which is all apparent as I pour this beer. Rich notes of slight oxidation combine with the rich maltiness. Fruity notes of raisins and a hint of cherries round out the malt notes. There is also a touch of some funky cheese like note here in the nose, as well as a hint of woody notes. Towards the end a hit of smooth alcohol becomes noticeable.

The beer is lightly carbonated, and a bit tart as well as lightly sweet. Quite rich and malty, definitely seems to hit the umami flavor part of the tongue quite well. This has just about the perfect level of woody barrel character; light, yet noticeable, without being distracting. The woody notes are lightly tannic, a hint of spicy wood flavors in the finish. The tannins and spicy woody notes really linger on in the finish, but still not in an overwhelming way. This beer strikes a really nice balance between all of its flavors. I can’t really say that any of them dominate the flavor profile, which is certainly a good thing. The whole of this beer is quite rich and satisfying though.

The malt character is quite nice, yet not cloying, with notes of toasted malt, ample notes of toffee, and caramelized notes that just add to the richness of this brew. This beer drinks much smoother than the 14+% alcohol; the size of this ~7oz bottle is actually too small, I definitely would have like 12 oz of this brew, which I was not expecting from a brew of this strength.

Marzipan, sherry, alcohol, oak, vanilla, cherries and soy sauce greet the nose. Opaque brown body is topped by a low tan head that recedes rapidly to ring. Though quite sweet, the flavour is an improvement on the aroma. Alcohol, though present, is quite muted leaving a sweet, nutty, brown sugar and caramel with vinous, sherry-like flavours and just a touch of acidity and minor notes of soy. Sweetness lingers on the tongue in the aftertaste. Strong alcohol warming and rather full body with somewhat low carbonation that is befitting the size of this beer. Bottle enjoyed with MartinT, muzzlehatch and Rastacouere.

Bottle. Brown color with a very small almost non existing beige head. Sweet dry body with notes of plums, nuts, caramel and a light liquorice note. Finishes with a light alcohol warmth.

Picked up the little nipper bottle at Hollingshead Deli in Orange CA. Pours murky brown with a minimal head. The aroma has sherry, brown sugar and a few other things I can’t pin, but it’s great. The flavor is excellent, Nice and malty with an incredible smooth finish. This is deadly stuff at 14.7%. The alcohol is well hidden.

Bottle compliments of cquiroga<!-- BR -->A dark ebony color, light head and nice lacing. Nose of chocolate, cocoa, sherry, cardboard, lightly sweet with toffee and thick crusty cake. The flavor is balanced, a ha, I know what that is, that crust on the bottom of coffee cake. Good. Borderline sherry but sweet, woody, acidic and tangy to balance. Good, smooth, creamy, yum.

Thanks to Buck_Dich for pulling out this gem! This is a knockout aroma, literally! Sweet leaf hoppiness, brewers yeast(liquid vitamins), honey and caramel maltiness, very sweet on the palate, with very evident madeirized brandy, vanilla and oak. Extremely well balanced and smooth, has that freshly opened but well age port flavor. Absolutely delicious, finishes sweet with chocolate covered caramel.