North Coast Old Stock Cellar Reserve Brandy Barrel

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

Soapy yellowish head, gone in a blink despite lively carbonation, in red-brown, slightly hazy beer. Alcohol, fusels, some chocolate, oakwood and some vanilla. Some earthy notes as well. Alcoholy, rich taste, with lots of caramel and dark and sweet malts, and a little acidic finish, that doesn’t spoil anything. Vinous, and of course, brandy-like. Sweet main taste, with very fruity flavours. Sweet overripe melons, ditto plums, cake & chocolate. Rich, well-bodied, but relieved by the titillating MF; quite slick. Much more refined than the Bourbon barrel - which makes sense IMO. Txs, Anonymous

Bottled, thanks to SKYHAND9000. After reading bobski’s review two before mine (and I mean that in a good way!), all I need to say about this absolutely amazing brew is that I will definitely remember this one down the line as unforgettable. About as near perfect as something of this nature can be...thank you again SKYHAND9000!!!

Pours a small tan head thats short lived. Thin ring of foam and no lace to speak of. Murky, flat brown colored ale thats not the least bit inviting. Nose of booze, molasses, maple, soy sauce and alc, quite unremarkable. Body is full, lightly oily but lifeless for the most part. Flavors of alc. booze, sweet malts and a hint of dark fruit all muddled together and just not working well. Sweet, malty alcoholy finish. WTF!? Is it me or does it just seem that the barrel aging works better for the Impy Stouts or are at least more enjoyable to me. This and Port Older Viscocity were both let downs for me. Boozy messes, both. Bottle procured in a trade with mj, thanks Mike! Thanks for helping me slog through this one Brian!

EBF 08. Pours a nice coppery amber with a nice thin lasting off white head. Aroma is big with tons of sweet caramel and toasty malts, lots of fruity esters, some alcohol burn, and a nice smooth syrupy sweet brandy character and hints of almonds as well. Good sharp sweet malty flavor with light fruitiness- medium crystal and toasted malts with some vanilla and oakiness but then the brandy comes in and takes over the oak and is very toffee-like and sugary sweet- finsih is nice and smooth for such a high gravity beer, but even at 14.7% it seems like it is in check and not out of hand.

# 900 with a huge thanks to irishboy for the bottle.

I’ve been waiting a while for this one. Here’s hoping it doesn’t disappoint...

The alcohol soaked wood component is immediately noticeable on the nose but in no way distracts from the underlying base beer. distilled grape spirit, moist wood, toffee malt, some creme brulee, vanilla and alcohol. Pours a dark, earthy brown with deep maroon highlight. An aggressive pours yields a thick khaki head that disappears with a shocking quickness. Almost soda-like. After the head dissolves, the beer is left looking curiously still. The alcohol is quite noticeable on the tongue for sure. Not quite sure that it distracts a lot from the flavor though. Rather, adds an additional layer of complexity. Plenty of brandy notes integrated with sweet toffee malt, liquorice, charred caramel, piney hops, oak. A heavy wood tannin. Leaning toward full bodied with lively carbonation.... which was unexpected. This is one of the most heavy spirit/beer interactions I’ve ever tasted. The brandy and the barley wine really fight it out. I really like it. For those that don’t appreciate barrel aged beers... stay the hell away. Me... i think it works quite well.

Bottle, 2005 Cellar Reserve, my rating #2400!

Poured deep, fizzy, coppery-cola brown with a short-lived cap of tan head. The aroma was sweet, dark, and extraordinarily complex.. beginning with a wave of deep brandy and port grapes, yielding to rich chocolate and caramel notes.. oak and more sweet brandy give the most memorable impression when this warms up.. alcohol is only present for singeing the nose hairs if you get a little too close to the glass.

Slick foray onto the palate, with a whole lot of barrel influence (vinous brandy notes, toasted oak, and vanilla led the way).. aged caramel, light chocolate, and more vinous notes provide the base.. hot brandy and oak almost burn a final impression on the palate. Slick and warm on the palate with low carbonation and a grainy feel that seemed to come from the oak.. complexity and warmth increased from the lips through the finish.. toning down the booze factor would probably bump this to a 4.8 for me. Wow!

Pours a deep brown with almost no head. Aroma is rich, malty, a lot of brandy and oak, not much complexity. Super hot flavor, some nascent barleywine notes, a little licorice, but this is mostly all barrel. Mouthfeel really burns the throat, though its good and thick. Tastes a lot like Angels Share. Not crazy about this, though its definitely better than the bourbon.

Poured a dark hazy amber-brown with a beige head. The aroma was of sweet aged malt but with little oxidation. Notes of sugar, caramel, brandy and vanilla. Nice smooth aged malt with sweet sugar and brandy. Smooth full mouthfeel. No alcohol but good warmth. Medium to full bodied.