The Duck-Rabbit Barleywine

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

Bottle courtesy of JCB - thanks, Jason! Sweet caramel-and-mango aroma. Orange rind, yeast, and plum sauce. Definitely exotic fruit. Creamy, rocky, rich beige/tanned head over a reddish body. Taste is alcoholic and overly sweetish with those dark candied exotic fruit notes, sugary and off-putting on the tongue. Medium body with a little yeastish D-R grit ("house character"), light prickling carbonation. Alcohol is reasonably well-integrated, and the aftertaste is dry, lingering mango/papaya/whatever. Not sure exactly what they’re going for here; with any luck, age will change this a bit. Have to consider this a "miss" from an otherwise world-class brewery.

12oz bottle, courtesy of a trade from a while ago. Chewy, reddish-honey appearance; light tan head with fine-bubbled lacing. Generous, cherry cough syrup and red fruit aroma; nice dose of floral hops. Average carbonation. Medium-to-full, sugary mouthfeel: overripe red fruits and chewy maple syrup; dense malt character, further emphasized by the relaxed carbonation; slightest floral hop presence; syrupy and overly sweet. Medium, cola and candy sugar finish.

Bottle courtesy of OldGrowth. Ruddy amber pour with a small tan head. Nose is sweet and very malty with caramel, brown sugar and an odd fruit aroma. Taste is orange marmalade, soft citrus peel, caramel, light alcohol, and some other odd fruit flavor. Maybe some tropical fruit??? This is one of the weirdest tasting barley wines I’ve ever tasted. Body is sticky with a medium feel on the palate. Soft carbonation. Finishes with more citrus peels, soft caramel and alcohol notes, and that odd fruit flavor. Still sweet during the finish. Tasty but odd. I wish I could place the fruit.

12oz.Bottle Duck Rabbit’s Barleywine poured a beautiful clear mahogany into the snifter. A 1+ finger creamy off white head formed that slowly faded down to a solid cap. As the head faded it let sheet lacing down the glass. A very few carbonation bubbles rise to the surface. Left lacing after each sip. Very good looking beer. The smell is a mix of dark fruity sugary malts and a mix of hop fruitiness. Right off the bat I pick up brown sugar. Underneath the brown sugar is a plate of fruit including figs, plum, and grapes. The brown sugar goes nicely with the fruit. There’s a very mild sweetened grapefruit and orange rind character from the hops. Unique mixture. Very sweet smelling. Flavor is all the same as the aroma. Figs and plums with a solid dose of brown sugar. This brown sugar is similiar to Lagunita’s Brown Sugga. Finishes with a mild bitterness and lingering citrus from the sweetened grapefruit and orange rind. Hardly any alcohol noticeable, something you can’t say about many 11% beers. Body is thick and viscous. Minimal carbonation fits this beverage nicely. The mouthfeel seems to be a little too sticky at times. This is a tasty beverage but drinking more than one bottle would certainly be overdoing it. The sweetness and viscosity would be too much if you got into the second bottle, of course with the high ABV you might not notice as much. This is definately an enjoyable barleywine. Not all malt like a lot of English Barleywines but the dark fruits and maltiness do dominate. Nice mild hop finish. Quality brew from Duck-Rabbit. This is my first bottle from them and I’m looking forward to trying some others. 3/11/07

Shared at DLD. Nice rich chocolate and maltey flavor and aroma. Not as bad as some have made it out to be.

Bottle, thanks Hogtown Harry. Dark orange, big fluffy white head, ice cream like. Very active. Nice aroma - strong hops and sweetness. Crisp mouthfeel. Great taste- crisp citrus hops, lots of sweetness and alcohol. So drinkable. Fruity. A great tasting barleywine, nice job Duck Rabbit.

I don’t quite know how to start with this one. It looked fine in the glass. Nice reddish copper color with only a slight ring of head around the glass. But this smelled and tasted completely different than any other BW I’ve had. It had some kind of a what I was referring to as rotten corn taste and smell. Really perplexing. Like spoiled corn syrup was used to make this beast. It was slightly over carbonated, but the alcohol was hidden fairly well. I’m still lost as to what was coming through in the nose and taste. Never experienced anything like it. EDIT: After reading another review I agree. The smell and taste is somewhat of overcooked vegetables. Not pleasant at all.

Nice barleywine. Makes me want to try more. Great flavor and aroma. Duck-Rabbit is a great brewery.