Sprecher Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine

Formerly brewed at Sprecher Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Glendale, Wisconsin USA

This is my favorites style and a wonderful beer. Smells and looks fantastic. A lot of vanilla coming from the oak aging. By far the best Sprecher beer, it takes their barleywine to a whole new level. The taste is improved and it is much less sweet than the original. Excellent.

Loud pop as the hinge swings off, pouring to a pristine scarlet amber hue with mini pin heads and bubbles floating on the surface. Conspiring depth lies inside the nose, as alcohol reverence and bing cherries pool around in a plum port sauce. Brandy and caramel hum with a never-ending liquod liquor pull of wonder. Thick juice pools about with concord, red currant and boysenberry oil. Plums and their figgy filling continue the flavor conquest. Dates get plucked out of brandy and enduringly drip caramel onto the tongue. Carbonation supports the bourbon accented sherry-plum-port persona. Prunes and craisins excrete some brighter accent flavors to the steady red and black stream. Oily, boozy balance with a toasted coconut and new oak appeal. Caramel and port continue the masterful presentation all the way through the finale. Thanks much, Jason!

Pours a deep, cherry/orange color w/ a full semi creamy froth. It smells like sticky sweet, Bourbon soaked grahmcrackers w/ bitter, sea salt hops. Full nectar w/ mellow residual effers create a silky texture. This is a HUGE English style w/ a few American Go-Go dancers thrown in to mix it up. Thick maple and candy w/ aged citrus rind, leather, pear, cherry, caramel apples, butter pecan, baked port wine, madeira, honey comb, vanilla bean, all held together w/ a swig of Kentucky Bourbon (Makers Mark to be exact). The finish is only slightly bitter so this specimen is more like a desert wine. A very complex one at that. I highly recommend getting ahold of one of these. My bottle was born in 2005 and bottled in 2006. Only 175 bottles were bottled so good luck.

Brought a bottle to the National Brewery Museum meeting. Very well received barley wine! Pours an amber/copper in glass and holds a nice creamy head. Sweet! Hints of apple, light cherry, and (of course) bourbon. Even though this is already sweet, we’re keeping one in the cellar for five years. Very nicely done.

2005 vintage. Thanks Jason! The beer pours to a radiantly glowing clean body and has a creamy white head. The aroma is a nice high-end bourbon with sweet vanilla notes. Subtle toffee and nougat. The flavor is toffee and nougat, sweet vanilla, and light strawberries. The palate is sweet, moderately full bodied, a little hot. Very good however. The beer also goes surprisingly well with the box of Girl Scout Cookies - Caramel deLites. I’d definitely buy another but there likely aren’t more bottles.

Beautiful look to it… radiant reddish-copper with a short off-white head. Aroma picked up a nice bourbon blend accenting sweet, darker caramelly sugars, dark fruit, and it had wonderful vanilla accents. Flavor was rich and full with dark fruit and toasty caramel at the core.. sweet, very nice bourbon blend and vanilla accents from the barrel… lightly-charred oak.. damn tasty! Heavier-bodied with a great flow to it.. rather strong toward the back with warmth. Great beer!

Not much of a pop on the flip top. LIght orange umber color with a small, but stable creamy taupe head. Buttery caramel and oak aromas. Not overly complex, but quite sniffable without much alcohol or overbearing sweetness that I found in the regular BW. Lots of buttery caramel and light toffee in the front of this one. Light rum, prunes, figs, vanilla and other fruits and sweet spices seem to float about. While still sweet, this one has enough complexity to help carry the sweetness and not get cloying. This one has picked up the oak without being overly bourbon like. I was a skeptic when I saw the rating on this one. Just the thought of the "plain" BW sent shivers down my spine. But they seem to have nailed this one. Nice job. I have been less than pleased with most of the offerings from Sprecher lately. I see a glimmer of hope.

Wow, this is freakin’ fantastic. beautiful auroma and fantastic taste make this the second-best barley wine I’ve tried. Damn good beer.