North Coast Old Stock Cellar Reserve Brandy Barrel

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

bottle thanks to bman113vr via fordest. Deep chocolate brown pour with a thin brown head. Nose of vanilla, fruits, wood and slight alcohol. Wow awesome on the palate with a great flavor of brandy, fruits and vanilla. Ridiculously smooth finish with a warming aftertaste.

Bottle from MaltOMeal at February Houston Tasting. Thanks, Bill! 2005 Vintage. Pours a thick, syrupy amber with a raisin, brandy, and oak aroma. Flavor is brandy-soaked plumb and butterscotch berry. Thick mouthfeel. Mellow and satisfying.

February Houston Tasting. Thanks to Maltomeal for this bottle. Pours a very murkey brown with not head. Nose of brandy, oak and hay. Flavor is well layered with cherries, raisins and brandy. Thin palate, but very creamy. Just a great bottle for #1000.

bottle thanks to Americanbrew. Shared at February Houston Tasting. Poured brown with no head. nose is of oak, brandy, raisins with some alcohol. Taste is of brandy and raisins. Mouthfeel is a bit syrupy, but a very full, complex brew that is very, very tasty. I absolutely loved this!

Somewhat, cloudy mahogany color, light amber color. Huge brandy, oranges, burnt raisins, chocolate, hazelnuts dark chocolate, molasses in the nose. Intense alcoholic, nutty, milk chocolate, burnt raisins, molasses everywhere, brandy in the mouth. Wow intense, but not nearly as boozey as the bourbon barrel. As I drank my lips became lightly numb and it warmed my stomach with a lingering brandy finish. Excellent winter warmer. Drank in a non-heated room in mid-January. Perfect. Thought fairly sweet, this beer never becomes cloying,which was impressive.

Sampled from bottle at OT, Stockholm. January 25, 2009.
2005 vintage
Nice clear copper to brown color, smallisg off-white head. Scent and taste are both dominated by vanilla oak, though the taste is also malty sweet and raissins with alcohol. Warming alcohol that dominates a bit too much. Smooth mouthfeel, medium bitterness. Would probably gain from keeping it stored one more year, or more.

(375 ml bottle via trade with IrishBoy, thanks Richard!) Pours dark rusty amber with just a trace of head mostly around the edges. Deep sweet aroma is filled with vanilla, brandy and almost rum, wood, raisin, brown sugar, candy-malt and caramel. Mouthfeel is smooth, nearly silky with only light carbonation. Really no lacing. Flavor is just warm, dense and sweet - vanilla and old smooth wood, brandy and raisin, candy-malt and caramel with alcohol warmth just oozing out everywhere but not overpowering (by the way how is the ABV so much higher in this than regular Old Stock?). Warm and almost buttery-rich. Damn this was good. A vanilla and brandy masterpiece.

12.7 oz bottle. Dark brown, clear at the edges, with a beige head that quickly fades. Nose is chocolate, caramel, wood and grass. Hints of brandy. Sticky medium body with trace carb. Taste is apple and caramel, green and oaky. Brandy comes out in a dry finish. I prefer my barleywines sweeter but this struck a nice balance.