Livery Bourbon Cask Aged Wheat Trippelbock

Formerly brewed at The Livery
Style: Weizen Bock
Benton Harbor, Michigan USA

(2006 vintage 22oz handbottle, thanks BBB63) Tan head atop lear mahogany body. Aroma is moderately sweet, caramel, vanilla/Bourbon, smooth and very inviting. Taste is sweet, raisin/plum, light Bourbon/alcohol, caramel, some burn. Sticky full body.

(Hand Bottled, courtesy of BBB63) Pours a dark brown body with a small beige head. Aroma of bourbon, oak, vanilla, and toasted marshmallows. Flavor or bourbon, oak, caramel, and dark wheat.

Hand-Bottle... This beer rocks!... Even when held up to a halogen bulb, it’s an opaque and very dark, brown lager with a small, frothy, lightly tanned head. The aroma is a swirl of caramel, plum, brown sugar, bourbon and smoked bacon(?). The malty, rich flavor is sweet, but not cloyingly so with lots of chocolate, dried plum, bourbon, smoke and caramel. Full-bodied with a syrupy mouthfeel and soft carbonation. Finishes malty and rich. Strong from start to finish. World class effort! So much better than the non-BBA version. Thanks to BBB63 for sending me the bottle!

On tap at the 2005 Great Taste of the Midwest: Pours a deep mahogany brown with a thin, light tan head. Sweet brown sugar, raisins and nice malty caramel and dark chocolate notes permeate the aroma. Body starts very rich, malty and sweet with a bittersweet, semi-dry and warming finish. Hides its alcohol fairly well given the amount of it. An interesting and complex brew. Good to see a new brewery coming out with stuff like this.

Dark burgundy burnt amber colored body, surprisingly dark, but then again I really didn’t know what to expect with this beer… I guess I thought it would resemble a weizen bock, dark muddy brown, but instead it looked deep dark brown, like motor oil, with some red and golden brown hues around the sides of the glass. Very little head when poured from the hand-bottle, but a layer of small bubbles were slowly drifting up towards the top. Nose is of extremely rich bourbon and some hot, vodka-like grain alcohol, along with bourbon-soaked chocolate, rich and lightly sweet amaretto. Flavor is smoky, resinous, charred bourbon, with some and resinous woody burnt toffee, and abundant chocolate malts, and perhaps even a little bit of soy and tar tasted as well. Again, it’s viscous and heavy, and has a bit of a burn on the back of the mouth and throat, finishing with a caramel, bourbon and heavy, tarry bourbon flavor. An amazing beer, like nothing else I’ve ever had. Really, really good stuff.

I liked this beer, but between the strong Bourbon aroma and the strong alcohol presence in the taste, I never would have guessed it was a weizen bock. The aroma is Bourbon... with a little caramel, chocolate, and vanilla managing to seep through. The Bourbon mellows out somewhat in the flavor. Only the softness of the mouthfeel suggests that this is a wheat brew. It tastes of chocolate covered caramel, raisins, molasses, vanilla, and alcohol, all nicely blended together. Not too shabby.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/events-detail.asp?eve of Barrel Aged Beers, Chicago, IL 11/04/2006<font size=-1>

Draft at the brewery. Poured dark reddish brown with an average fizzy off-white head that was mostly lasting with excellent lacing. Heavy complex roasted toffee smoke woody and small alcohol aroma. Medium to full body with a creamy texture. Medium complex chocolate flavor with a heavy smooth sweet finish of long duration. This is a standout beer. Happy first year.

That very special handbottle from Steve and enjoyed with TAR and CB, served in Expedition and Stone IRS snifters: Mahogany hued with an very heavy oily cling to the glassware.

The nose is an intense deep infusion of aromas and esters including: vanilla bean, prune, candy apple, licorice, juniper, bacon, sea salt, caramel, wheat and rye breads. So powerful, I had to walk away for a second to regain thought, didn’t help I it caused me to go a sneezing spree for about 2 minutes. That is one powerful aroma!

The flavor has a wonderful interplay of smokey wood, caramel and mocha, ripened fruits, with noticeable but not overpower alcohol. There is a rich clove and cardamom like spice near the vinous end. It also has a salty (also barleywine-ish ) bite on the finish.

The mouth texture is oily and lush with a biting warming sensation, a true evening sipper.
I think it is indeed worthy of it’s past ratings, a true powerhouse beer. Just enough barrel ageing you know for sure it is there but never did it overplay it’s hand. You would be hard pressed to find a better beer in the lager family. (hope the next release in August is near it equal)
MANY MANY THANKS to Steve for letting me share the last drops of this batch!