The Duck-Rabbit Barleywine

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

Date: December 25, 2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Roadtrip
Vintage: 2006
Appearance: clear dark amber, wispy beige head, trace of lace
Aroma: sweet fruity malt aroma with light floral hops and a trace of alcohol
Flavor: rich malty and bitter flavor, touch of fruit character
Overall: maybe it’s chinoook that I don’t like?

Date: January 22, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: blind tasting
Vintage: 2006
Score: 2.9
Appearance: ruby red, frothy white head that stirs up nicely to produce some streaks of lace
Aroma: fruity aroma with lots of fusel alcohols
Flavor: lots of bitter hop flavor almost to the point of being astrengent but the caramel sweetness comes to save it

Date: February 01, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2006
picking up a bit of unwanted tartness

Date: November 30, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2006
Aroma: sweet caramel malt aroma with earthy hops
Flavor: rich caramel malt flavor, nice earthy hops, touch of alcohol, lasting sweet fruity caramel malt sweetness

Date: January 24, 2008
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2006
Score: 3.3 to 3.6
Appearance: gusher
Aroma: fruityness coming out in the sweet caramel aroma, fleeting hint of astrengency
Flavor: sweet fruity flavor is ripening nicely, earthy hops receeding but still providing the needed balance
Overall: aging nicely

Date: March 07, 2008
Mode: bottle
Source: blind tasting
Vintage: 2006
Score: 3.1
Appearance: hazy dark red, fin

Deep chestnut color, small thin head forms nicely. Aroma is, as bobo would say, pound cake. Flavor is very sweet, with absolutely no hop flavor coming through at all. Very thick and viscous. NIce.

A nice dark amber brew with a small thin head.Aroma coming up the glass are sweet fruit and caramel. Flavor of the dark fruits with caramel and a mild sweetmess. Finish had the alcohol peeking through.

Picked up a single 12-oz bottle via trade with Frumpy. Pours a semi-hazy reddish caramel brew with a thin off-white head. Nice lacing to to the glass. Aroma of brown sugar, pineapples, with a citrus hop character. Taste is semi-thick, sweet, very little carbonation with flavors of brown sugar, caramel malt and some grapefruit. Finish is dry, with a slight grapefruit aftertaste. The alcohol doesn’t kick in until after the finish. Man does it knock you on your seat! Who needs malt liquor?

(bottle, thanks Skyview) Pours amber with a small head. Hoppy aroma, very citrusy. Flavor was malty and not as bitter as the nose would lead you to believe. Not bad.

[Bottle, thanks once again to Skyview] Pours amber with a small white head. The aroma was hoppy and citrusy. The taste was quite sweet and somewhat malty. Far less impressive than some of the other duck rabbits I’ve had. That having been said, it’s still not that bad of a beer.

Thanks to Skyview for sharing another DR beer. Clear brown color with faint white head. A lot of citrus hops on the sweet nose (pineapple and grapefruit). Sugary grapefurity body and surprisingly little malt for a barleywine.

12oz bottle via trade I think with DrBayern. Thanks. Pours beautifully with almost too much head. Poured into one of my over sized Reidel Snifters. Pours rosy amber with a 2 finger tan head faded from 3 fingers. The nose is very intriguing bits of dried fruit maybe a bit of raisin, very smooth no big aroma spikes. The taste is sweet and full of caramel and a bit of molasses. I’ll agree with my pal Ughsmash that it leaves a funky after taste and isn’t so good overall. I wish it had more it just doesnt’ have it completely.