The Duck-Rabbit Barleywine

Brewed by The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Farmville, North Carolina USA

Deep copper/amber in color. The nose was initially sweet and citrusy with aromas of lemon peel, marmelade, Christmas spice (double kick of clove) and toffee. In the mouth it was medium to full-bodied and concentrated yet allowed the hops to show by drying out the finish. This is well-balanced and appears as if it would age well for at least a couple years. There is also a nice amount of carbonation which helps keep this fresh.

Pours reddish/brown with thick tan head. Aroma of caramel and hops. Taste of toffee, caramel, spices and slight hop bite. Medium to thick mouthfeel. Can definitely taste and feel the alcohol.. Pretty hot going down. Good beer. Reminds me of Bigfoot.

This one is a real treat. The Duck-Rabbit folks consistently brew top-of-the-line products. I can only surmise that living and working in Farmville, NC inspires the brewers to spend long, long hours at their work indoors (where it is presumably air conditioned and has more interesting landscapes..).

Appearance: Russet-copper color. Mahogany, really. And as one would expect, no appreciable head to speak of.

Aroma: A real treasure-trove here: leather, tobacco, hops, cloves, allspice, and even a hint of oregano.

Taste: Banana, clove, caramel, allspice, grapes, brown sugar, and hops. Oy vey pass me another snifter!

Palate: A dry and warming finish.

Overall: Well-rounded for sure. This is one to cellar in bulk! Drinking this makes me long for winter -- seated in front of a roaring fire with my D-R Barleywine in one hand and a nice cavendish pipe in the other. Wearing a wool waistcoat, to be sure.

Serving type: bottle

Pours a pleasant deep red/brown with a small to medium tan head. The nose is highly caramel, with undertones of apricot and traces of astringent alcohol. The flavor is surprisingly hop influenced, followed by a slight sweetness, vinous properties and a small alcohol bite.

Pours a reddish brown with a medium head. Aroma is of caramel and some fruits. Taste is bitter (love them hops) with a caramel malt taste. Brown sugar is noted as well.

12 oz. bottle courtesy of a trade with GAManiac. Pours a nearly clear reddish-brown, more red than brown, with a moderate tan head that lasted until mid-glass and left spotty lace. Very pleasant aroma of caramel, oranges, apples, brown sugar and some alcohol. The flavor is a bit light on the caramel with some fruiit and alcohol also present. Dry at the finish and prickly on the tongue. A decent enough barley wine, but not really suited to my palate.

Pours a clear, dark crimson-brown color with a large, spongy, cream colored head. Thick, sticky patches of lacing coat the glass almost entirely. The aroma is simple, but quite enticing. Rich caramel, buttery toffee, vanilla, and orange hops comprise the nose. There’s a slight alcoholic burn to it as well, but not enough to be the least bit offensive. Flavors basically follow suit. The sweet caramel and toffee is balanced well by potent citrus hops, all of which is accentuated by smooth vanilla. Medium-full bodied and slightly syrupy, it goes down smooth with just a touch of annoying heat. I would prefer less filtering, but hey, its still pretty damn good. Nice job by Duck-Rabbit.

12 oz bottle from ucusy, thanks Dave. Wow what let down from the DR. Pours a clear deep mahogany brown with a small bubbly beige head. Aroma of alcohol, lots of alcohol at that, caramel, toffee and slight raisin. Dry palate with light carbonation. Flavor is dry with lots malts and bready grain, slight caramel. Oh well they all can’t be winners, too bad though.