Rock Bottom Chicago Bourbon Barrel-Aged English-style Barleywine

Name: BA Barleywine
Brewery: Rock Bottom Brewery
Date: 08/09/2008
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewfest, Great Taste
Words: Chicago

Appearance: hazy gold, wispy beige head,
Aroma: sweet and fruity caramel malt aroma,
Flavor: rich and sweet malt flavor, lots of fruity character, light balancing bitterness,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: ***/4

tap at Rock Bottom Chicago...for the record this is not my 700th which was Stonewall Ale but i can’t find the damn rating....anyhow, pours a semi-transparent mostly cloudy orange brown with a soapy white head.... aroma of wood, caramel, toffee, and ripened fruit... flavors follow suit if only a little more sugary sweet, some bitterness on the backend with some mild carbonation to go along with it.

Great Taste 2008. One of the better BA barleywines I had that day, although I still think Great Dane does a wonderful job with this style. Lots and lots of caramel and vanilla here along with brown sugar and fig. I would disagree with the last reviewer, in that I found this to be decidely sweet, sweeter than Subzero (as I recall it). The finish is very warm (the 12% doesn’t surprise me, although I would have guessed around 10%) and the bourbon hits one on the way down. I let this one warm up in my extra glass for about 20 minutes while I was drinking other things, and the bourbon and sweetness really do come out. I think I liked this better colder than warmer, rather than how I typically prefer my barleywines. Great stuff, and another Great Taste treat.

On tap at GTMW. Poured brighter medium golden with a short, sticky cap of white head. The aroma picked up sweeter bourbon and toasted pale malts paired with spicy bourbon (that singed the nose hairs a bit) and floral hoppage.. dry and decidedly English-style. The flavor had warm, toasty pale malts at the core with a touch of citrus zest and a hint of acetone surrounding.. increasing bourbon toward the finish.. didn’t give the best impression at the end. Medium-plus bodied and quite sharp on the palate.. warmed the belly greatly.

On tap at the brewery. The beer pours a bit hazy muddy type of color w/ a small dense white head and good lacing. Aroma is big full of bourbon and oak, a good amount of alcohol bordering on fuesal, some orange rind and basic grapefruit aromas hints of toffee.. Full well coated pal. Flavor is pretty good a lot of barreling comes through, a pretty aggressive alcohol, some light perfume almost hoped bittering, that is very light and hints of a toffee.. It’s ok.