North Coast Old Stock Cellar Reserve Brandy Barrel

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

Bottle. Dark, brown/amber color. Very boozy, sweet aroma. Flavor is molasses, oak and brandy. Very rich, sweet and super hot with alcohol. This should be divine in a couple years. As it stands right now, it’s a little too much for me.

Bottle. Hazy orange red coloured with a small beige head. Sweet aroma of caramel and dried fruits with notes of sherry and oxidated notes. Sweet flavour of caramel and dried fruits with notes of sherry and alcohol. Finish of dried fruits and alcohol.

# 19 Bottle. [Papsoe’s great blind tasting, thanks Henrik!] Small fizzy beige head that mostly diminished. Fair display of lacework. Muddy brown color. Aroma of raisin, cherry, dried fruit, wood, vanilla, toasted malt. Over the palate came vinous, cherry, dates, prunes and alcohol. Full bodied with a soft carbonation and alcoholic texture. Moderated to heavy sweet flavor with hint of bitter. Lingering sweet and alcoholic finish. 8-5-8-4-17 = 4.2 19-04-2008

Blind tasting at Papsoes place, another great session, thanks Henrik! Beer #19: Pours hazy dark brown with a fully diminished white head. Solid brandy and wineous aroma. Flavour follows this closely by being solid brandy and mild spiced. Dense alcohol warming feel into the finish. Chocolate and mild roasted malt appears going into a light fruity and malty finish. Nice and smooth wineous/oaky.

Bottle from The_Epeeist, huge thanks Chris!!! Pours a hazy ruby brown color with a smallish tan colored head. Aroma is sweet caramel malts, wood, brandy notes. Flavor is caramel, toffee, brandy, brown sugar, rasins, alcohol, tobacco. Palate is full bodied, medium to mild carbonation, finished sweet and slightly warming. Super fantastic stuff, I enjoyed this way more than BB Angels Share!

A Mes rate: Bottle at Tom’s UGT Pt. 2.
Dirty dark brown and not as good looking as the regular or the bourbon. Aroma is slightly oxidised with slight notes of calvados (thanks Royce) sweet toffee and obvious brandy. Flavour is... oh... my... GOD!!! Absolutely bloody fantastic. Big sweet malt, obscene alcohol, amazing barrel, thick and burly. The brandy is just about there but not over the top. Gorgeously creamy, complex and rich. Big nutty alcohol alcohol finish give you a real kick up the arse. Amazingly chewy mouthfeel but somehow not at all cloying. Fanbloodytastic!

Bottle from boboski. Caramel brown in color with a decent beige head. Aroma is of sweet brandy, caramel, and some raisins and figs. The flavor is much the same with a definite alcohol warmth--a little too hot right now for my liking. Definite sweetness from the brandy throughout. I can imagine that this will age incredibly well. Very good brew.

Bottle courtesy of wetheral, thanks again John! Pours a rich solid caramel color with a short yellowish light tan head. The aroma is big and pungent with all the best sweet characteristics you’d want from a brew like this: toffee, bready caramel malt, hints of tobacco, brown sugar, vanilla, raisin, booze, muddled oak...it’s the kind of aroma that requires a smoking jacket. The flavors are rich and boozey as one might expect from a 14% odd beast of a barley wine: earthy wood blends with bready caramel, brown sugar and rasin that gives way to some spicy booziness and vanilla in the middle. The booze takes you to brief earthy hops that quickly give way to more oak, honey, toffee, bready malt to a warming, rich finish. Pretty big body with a soft carbonation...sweet/bready/malty/boozey/and slightly woody, with a sticky sweet/boozey finish. A really nice sipping brew to which I imagine age will only contribute. The booze is quite present in this one, but by no means in a bad way. It contributes to the spicy kick mid-way and leaves that wonderful warming as it finishes. Beautiful brew, and unlike my favorite standard BW, this is special occasion decadence in a bottle vs a "easy drinking" barley wine".