The Duck-Rabbit Barleywine

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

Bottle sampled with stegosaurus through trade. Hmm ehh it was just ok Malty bread like aroma light watery bottle. I was dissapointed because I love barley wines and it fell really short of what I hoped for.

Poured dark amber with a over flowing off white head that took forever to subside. Aroma of sweet malt. Sweet malt flavor. Very sweet. A little too sweet.

Had this some time ago and it tasted like straight band aids. I traded a few and kept one to taste later. Red/brown color with gusher type head. Aroma of cherry cough syrup. The taste was the same with sour cherry notes. Some fruity notes in the finish. I cannot finish the whole bottle. Down the drain it goes.

12 ounce bottle from SS Summer 07.
Gusher. Very hard to pour.
Pours a reddish hued brown with a rather large beige head.
The aroma comes off as caramel, toffee, and cherry cough drops.
The flavor is sweet like cheap liquour. Stale Cherry Pucker. Light bitter finish.
Greasey mouth feel. Way too much carbonation.
Possibly infected. Certainly not a good bottle.

Sampled at brewgrass festival. Poured a golden brown with a tan head. Has sweet simple sugar taste. Caramel comes through some. Body was solid. Finished with a sweet taste on the tongue.

Caramel color with huge head that won’t go down. Perfume and floral hop aroma mixes with some sweet booze. Lots, and lots of sweet boozey malt in the taste. Starts bright and sweet and then gets pretty deep and boozey. A little light green apple seems very out of place. After taste is sour apple mixed with booze...not pleasant. As far as barley wines go, this is towards the bottom of what I’ve tried. I can’t wait to try other Duck Rabbit beers, but this one just doesn’t do it for me.

2006/2007 12 oz bottle. Pours clear, thick reddish-amber with a giant frothing off-white head that subsides a bit but still leaves good lacing. The aroma is sweet and and bready with some liquor character and soft floral hops. The flavor is carmelly sweet, fairly mild and a bit sour. Malt dominated, with hops present for bitterness and some piney notes in the profile. Finishes moderately dry. Medium-full bodied, moderate carbonation and reasonably smooth with a nice warming character. This barleywine edges more into the english style than most of its american counterparts, although it does feature some interesting piney hops as well. Good beer. 2008 rerate. Much more assertive citrus hops this year push my overall rating up a notch. This is a good barleywine...and underrated here.

This was actually better before I let it age...once aged it became sour, with a distinctive french bread aroma. It was probably something to do with the yeast. Before aging, it has a nice bubble gum flavor, hoppy, nutty, small head, light red color, with some alcohol burn (not unpleasant) on the finish. I look forward to getting this again once the winter season starts up. I drank this frequently last winter but I saved some in the cellar for sampling later.