North Coast Old Stock Cellar Reserve Brandy Barrel

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

(10/29/08) Bottle at Valley Brew brewery in Stockton (thanks a lot Mike!). 2007 vintage. Hazy brown color. Aroma of port, malt, caramel, some fruits, some wood and alcohol. Sweet malty flavor with caramel, wood notes, brandy notes, some dark fruits and a bit of alcohol. Full-bodied. Quite good. I wasn’t aware how high this one is rated until now that I enter it.

2008-12-19. Dark near headless mahogany brown body. (3+) Aroma is mildly alcoholic, raisin-like sugars, mild wood undertones. Boozey at first it mellows as you go on. (7+) Flavour starts out a touch boozy as well, but mellows into a warming alcohol, sweet sugars, and sherry-brandy like character. As you progress it becomes a very smooth alcohol experience rather than the harshness that could accompany such a strong drinker. Melange of sweet wood and alcohol is lovely, defying dissection. (8+) Smooth medium to full bodied palate is almost still, but suits it perfectly. (4+) A delicious sipper. <i>2005 Vintage. Bottle c/o trade with SDBruboy</i>

375 ml bottle. Pours a beautiful clear dark amber with a one finger fizzy beige head that ran to a thin ring. The nose is just stunning and rich. Deeply malty with a super smooth brandy note. Intense vanilla, figs, and wood, but there is a certain amount of booziness to it. The flavor is just as rich, deep toffee and caramel with a nice hint of light oxidation, brandy, figs, light-roast coffee, lightly woody, and moderate but not overpowering alcohol. Mouthfeel is pretty nice, but I wish the carbonation were a bit more toned down. Letting it sit a good while really helped with this. Certainly a beer that improves from being sipped rather than gulped. This really was a completely different beast than the Bourbon barrel, much better.

Bottle. Pours a ruby brown body with an off white head. Lots of oak and brandy up front with alcohol latent fruits. More refined then the bourbon but still in your face. Awesome.

Pours with no head but some nice legs. Wow potent alcohol fumes wafting up from my snifter. Quite a large amount of brandy influence but not in a very positive way. Extremely fusel and raw. If I attempt to look past this a good amount of kettle caramelization and heavy malt emphasis is found. Many other typical flavour components found in the normal version of Old Stock which I love as well. Great base beer overshadowed by an over zealous amount of barrel aging that really does nothing to compliment or enhance it. Definately lay this down for at least a year to let the fusel character tone down a bit.

Dark pour, very small white head. Aroma is brandy, wood, vanilla and caramel or toffee. Flavor is dark malt and brandy. Palate is full and rich. This beer is a bit too heavy booze to be great.

2005 bottle shared with and courtesy of Jerc and Mabel - thanks for sharing another rare one guys. Dark brown small to no head. Amazing aroma - wood, dark fruit, malt, some sweetness. Taste is huge alcohol at first, huge woody malt, lots of sweet sugars from the brandy. Amazing absolutely huge beer - this one demands to be sipped and shared. Borders on overwhelming but ultimately fell on the side of complex wonderful treat for me. Loved it.

Old ratings. Aroma was really carmelly with some sweet candiness to it and a lot of bourbon. It was really sweet overall and a little brandy. Legs from this dripped down the side.