Marin Old Dipsea Bourbon Barrel Aged Barleywine Style Ale

Brewed by Marin Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Larkspur, California USA

Bottle 65 cl. Pours a cloudy opaque dark brown with a creamy, beige head. Aroma has lots overripe fruit, bourbon and licorice allsorts. Quite full-bodied, again lots of caramel and overripe fruit. Sweet caramel and a warming alcohol in the finish. Absolutely no bitterness. 110709

22 fl oz bottle. Pours hazy dark orange to brown with a small off-white head. Smooth and fruity barrel aged aroma. Light eye burn. Vanilla and chocolate malt flavoured. Mild wooden and vanilla finish. Very smooth.

Name: Old Dipsea Barleywine Style Ale, BA
Date: July 11, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: RBSG 2009
Appearance: hazy dark amber, scant head
Aroma: sweet dark caramel and vanilla aroma
Flavor: rich caramel malt flavor, nice bourbon, sweet vanilla, balancing oakyness, touch of alcohol
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

(A couple 22oz bottles) Pours a hazy mahogany body with a small beige head. Aroma of vanilla, bourbon, caramel, and toffee. Flavor of caramel malt, hops (herbal), dark fruit, vanilla, and bourbon.

Bottle… This beer rocks!… Pours a murky caramel-color with a small, creamy, white head. Hurricane-like, swirling retention. The nose is an intoxicating swirl of oak, whiskey, caramel, vanilla and coconut. Full-bodied with tingly carbonation. The tangy, sweet flavor offers caramel, bourbon and a rumor of oak. There is a lot of bourbon flavor without a lot of bourbon heat. The lengthy finish is sweet and tangy and bequeaths lingering, rich notes of brown sugar and whiskey. Big time thanks to daknole for sharing his bottle of this world class beer!

Sample from a bottle shared by riversideAK (???) Heaven Hill version. Tawny brown colored body, small tan ring of a head. Clear and surprisingly light colored, not that it matters. Nose is strangely minty and solvent-like, the bourbon character seems spicy/peppery/gin-like, with your more typical vanilla, almond and wood character not playing a primary role. Body is disappointingly weak and sharp - not something I like at all - while the sweet caramel malts and vanilla/bourbon focused flavors seem detached, stale and overall just very mild. Surprised that this one came across so... bland?

8 month Heaven Hill edition. Poured a brownish red color with an off-white head. The bourbon barrel dominates but not over powering. Vanilla and bourbon nose. Sweet malt flavor. Fruity taste with some bourbon mixed in. Nice warming sensation but no alcohol taste. medium-full bodied.

Tasted during the Nor Cal Beer Geek Tasting on 3/11/2009. This barleywine pours a cloudy deep amber brown color from a 22oz bottle. Small to medium sized white foamy head. The aroma is bourbon, oak, vanilla and caramel malts. A full-bodied barleywine. The malts are caramel, fruity and sweet. The hops are earthy. Full flavored barrel aged beer, lots of oak, vanilla an bourbon flavors. Very smooth taste. Very small amount of carbonation is this one, but it doesn’t seem to affect the taste much. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is sweet and bourbonish.