Weyerbacher Insanity

22oz bomber Halftime Beverage Insanity pours a brilliant crystal clear mahogany that absolutely glows ruby when backlit. A one finger creamy slightly off white head formed on the pour and slowly faded to a light skimming. Left a few spots of lacing. The aroma comes mostly from the barrel aging, and I dig it. Big whiffs of vanilla bean and fragrant oak. Plum and prune follow suit along with some other dark fruits that escape me at this time.This may sound crazy but I smell coconut shavings. Very unique and delicious. Caramel and toffee malts get things started but are quickly followed by layer upon layer of complexity. Vanilla and a drying oak character come through mid-palate along with the dark fruits that were in the aroma. Finishes with a complimentary brown sugar sweetness and strong but appropriate alcohol spiciness. My description does not do this barletwine justice. Full body but with a slick oily type feel. Sluggish carbonation lets this one work through slowly, just the way it needs to be. The body and mouthfeel is about as good as it gets. For such a huge beer, the alcohol (in flavor) doesn’t hurt the drinkability at all. This is without a doubt a sipper but one I wouldn’t mind sipping the night away with. In my expierence Weyerbacher is either hit or miss. They hit a bullseye when they started brewing Insanity. I would go buy a case of this tomorrow if it was available in my area. Excellent barletwine from Weyerbacher. 8/26/07

Pours a burgundy color with a short lived off-white head that leaves minimal lacing. The aroma is typical of barley wine, vinous, with added notes of cask that add to the complexity. Scents of brown sugar, dried fruit, dates, wood, and orange rine. The flavour is similar, with strong bourbon, jagery, strong malty backbone, caramel and a dry finish that is lightly smoky from the cask. The palate is medium bodied, slick and oily. The carbonation is soft, which I think ideal for complex brews.

A good barley wine which is one of my least favorite styles. Aroma of dark fruits and alcohol. Pour was a medium to dark brown with no head. Taste was very fruity and vinuous. Actually tasted like a wine. Hints of vanilla and oak but the raisin, caramel and malt are the main players.

Thank you Coldbrewky/Steve for this interesting beer! It’s red copper with a huge, nice and creamy head. The aroma clearly reveals that it has been aged in bourbon casks, it has clear notes of wood, vanilla, bourbon, raisin and sweetness. The flavour is sweetish with an increasing bitterness, that ends somewhat dry in the finish. It has a lot of wood/oak, vanilla, bourbon, some alcohol, raisin and caramel. It’s a very interesting beer, but you need to like whisky to fully appreciate this beer - so my husband liked it a lot! 2461

POurs a cloudy, murky, light brown color with not much of a head. Nice aroma. Caramel malts, cinnamon, almost a tootsie roll scent.Very sweet smelling. The taste is much of the same. Very sweet malty flavor with a fairly big alcohol bite. Sweet caramel candy flavor as it is very sugary on the palate. I get some sweet fruit buried underneath all of the malt, with definite traces of bourbon. Not huge in your face bourbon, but enough to let you know its there. Not bad.

Bottle: Pours a nice clear copper color with an off white head. Aroma, oak and booze, some caramel, and sweet fruity notes. Flavor, boozy, some fruits, the alcohol is pretty hot in this one, some sweet malts in there. Smooth and medium bodied, but the alcohol is too detracting.

Slight aroma of fruit, sweetness, oak, and alcohol. It pours an opaque orangish-brown, with a thin dusting of a head. This starts with a sweet fruit flavor, with hints of apple and oak, with a bit of alcohol burn in the back of the mouth and going down the throat. Very smooth and creamy mouthfeel. As it warms up, it starts to develop bourbon characteristics. Overall, I prefer this much more then the base Blithering Idiot, and this does hold up well to aging.