North Coast Old Stock Cellar Reserve Brandy Barrel

Formerly brewed at North Coast Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Fort Bragg, California USA

Reddish-brown colour and flat. Big wood nose with lots of alcohol. Slightly vinous. Burly, brash on the palate but with a smooth maltiness. A hint of maple helps take the edge off. Well-rounded for such a big beer.

bottle with a big thanks to irishboy: pours a good barleywine brown colour witha quick tan head that reminds me of a soda head.aroma is very thick adn hearty full of wood, vanilla, brandy, vinous fruit are abundant. also a great dark fruit fo figs and rasins. wow the flavour is very strong adn wonderful. great amounts pf rich grains, some wood character, very vinous adn finishes f\perfectly dry with some more of the wood. one of the best finishes in a barleywine i have ever had.

2005 Bottle, thanks to jarspag for ordering this from the brewery. Normally I prefer bourbon-barrel aged beers, but I think overall I like the brandy version more between the two. Hazy burgundy color with no signs of head and only a minute amount of bubbling in the center. The brandy and oak completely smother the aroma, with nuances of spicy caramel, raisin, cinnamon and nutmeg. Wow! The addition of brandy through barrel seepage has resulted in a liqueur appearance; leaving legs on the snifter upon swirling. Very smooth flavor profile with prominent oak barrel, sweet sweet caramel and cinnamon, candy sugar with very subdued hints of pine. Syrupy and velvety body with a bit of pleasant oxidation. Ends with very warm alcohol content.

Thanks so much to miketd for sharing: I think it’s true that this is better than the bourbon barrel, as we had them side by side. I am not a brandy drinker, but this had a sweeter and more inviting taste than the bourbon which was a little harsher. Aroma of alcohol-marinated raisins, musty wood. Very full flavor, sweet and warm, with dark fruit, rich malts, and vanilla undertones that stick to the palate. This one is definitely meant to be shared, as it is pretty potent.

Bottle. Body-almost still, dark iced tea body. Nose-chocolate, Tootsie Rolls, alcohol, some light wood, caramel, nice, sweet complex beer. Taste-caramel candy, medium alcohol, low bitter, hot, prickly CO2 despite being so still, good high quality bourbon, earthy as it warms, clay, really approaches bourbon as it warms. Quite enjoyable albeit a little hot. RE-RATE MARCH 20, 2008. Bottle. Now we are talking. Here is a f*****g beer! Body-medium brown, dark hazy with a medium ring of bubbles. Nose-bourbon, brownie mix, old honey, cereal, butter. Taste-medium hot, maple sugar, maple candy, bourbon, perfect mix of bourbon and maple, perfect sugar, hot in a good way, cinnamon, damn near perfection. More of a work of art than a beer.

This Barley Wine pours a murky dark reddish brown color from a corked 375 ml bottle. Small sized white foamy head, that disappears very quickly. The aroma is caramel, dark fruit, raisins, hints of oak and sherry. A medium to full bodied Barley Wine. The malts are caramel, dark fruity and sweet. The hops are earthy. Lots of fruit, oak, and brandy/sherry flavors. Nice balance. Very smooth tasting. Mild carbonation. Hides the 14.5% alcohol very well. Some chocolate and toffee flavors emerge as it warms. Nice beer. There are lots of flavors mixing going on around here. I would prefer a little more carbonation. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

(Bottle, one million thanks to TheSheeseMan and WeeHeavySD) Pours dark brown with some dark red notes and a fast decreasing sand colored head on top of everything. The aroma is complex, well balanced and fat with malty tones of (burned) caramel, fudge and some chocolate, dark fruits like raisins, prunes and fresh figs are also notable. Oaky, alcohol-ish and vinous with tones of red wine, mature blue grapes, oxidation, brandy, port, butter and light vanilla. Undertones of pumpernickel, apples, nutshells, dark syrup, old sunlit wood facade and brown sugar. The flavour is of syrupy caramel malt and mild oxidation that keeps each other balanced, very vinous with notes of port, red wine and brandy, lots of dark bread tones, dark fruits like raisins and prunes but also some apples, some well-integrated oak with hints of vanilla and butter alongside of some of dark chocolate and sal ammoniac. No taste of alcohol but a great deal of warmth and numbing qualities. The mouthfeel is soft, gentle yet fairly sticky and numbing. Medium to heavily sweet and light bitter. Aftertaste of dark bread, red wine, sticky syrup and dark fruits. Medium to full bodied. The aroma is amazing and the flavour keeps on growing for every zip. This beer sucks… NOT.

Bottle. A brown beer with a beige head. The aroma and taste is oxidiced, of caramel malt, vanilla, wood and fruits, some alcohol. MEdium to full body with a sweet alcoholic finish.