Weyerbacher Insanity

Brewed by Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
Style: Barley Wine
Easton, Pennsylvania USA

12oz pour from the "Wick." Thin head that went bye-bye but that is not what this beer is about. Reminds me of a Dogfish beer (forget the name) that is less abv but has the same dark fruity notes for the nose and is oak aged. Nice beer to sip and not nearly as "thin" as some others have said. This is very nice and stands up to Weyerbacher’s unusual styles. Three of these and I would be bonkers!!!!

bottle Reddish, somewhat hazy amber colour. OK head. Sweet, somewhat burnt Sherry aroma. Sweet, somewhat harsh alcohol flavour.

12oz bottle. pours muddy amber with white head. nose has bourbon, vanilla, wet grains, and caramel. flavor has coconut, oak, bourbon, caramel, slight tobacco, the barrel adds real nice coconut flavor. but the barleywine can’t breakthrough and hold it’s own. a great barrel, not a great beer. mouth feel is a tad thin, carb. low. alc well hidden. the bourbon isn’t too much for me, it’s the barleywine that isn’t big enough to balance it.

Had tried a bottle of this previously and never rated it, too much borbon. Received another bottle from Shadey, marked Jan ’05. Not sure if that’s purchase date or bottling date. Aroma is a decent balance of bourbon and caramel, bourbon still dominates, but not in a ad way. Flavor bourbon has mellowed out a bit, but so has everything else. Light bourbon and dark fruit flavors. Light carboard oxidation. Big alcohol warmth in the finish. Decent lingering residuel sugars/carmelized malt aftertaste. Mouthfeel becomes very thin at times. Probably past it’s prime already.

Bottle @ Oliver Twist, Stockholm. Pours a hazy amber color with an off-white head. Malty alcoholic nutty chocolate aroma with some hints of dark fruit. Sweet malty chocolate and dark fruit flavor. Sweet malty warming finish.

This has a nice aroma. Lots of sweet sugary malts, mostly caramel and toffee with a bit of brown sugar. The taste is very strange, there is more sugary caramel in there but there is a ton of metallic bitterness and a lot of strong alcohol that is really off-putting. Its got its merits for sure, however I don’t find it particularly pleseant.

Ok, this was the fifth big bottle of big beers Haukur shared with me (bless his collar button). My notes had become hard to read because of my writing – bad when I’m sober, worse than a 5 year old on crack when drunk. Now, if anybody has stopped in that small town in Tennessee where Jack Daniel’s is made, he might have bought some Whiskey candy. He might even have tasted it. I did. Now, drinking Jack Daniels in much too big quantities, around the time I started drinking, almost ruined my ability to drink whiskey. I’m getting better, but I only drink single malt now. However, this Insanity brought back the Jack Daniel’s candy. Both the aroma and flavour. My numbers say this is better than decent, but I’m unlikely to want to drink anything that strongly reminds me of Jack Daniel’s ever again.

Reddish copper with a thin dense off white head. A little bit too much head on this barleywine. The nose is strongly oaky and cherry wood with a bit of a caramel sweetness to round it out. Still, the wood is too big, some alcohol shows up. Not too thick in the mouth or fizzy with a bit of a slick viscosity and some alcohol warming, though not bad for the ABV. The flavors are out of balance too, though not terrible. Sweet oaky to cherry acidity beneath a subdued malt bill. Alcohol pops out with very little hops. Cloying wood lingers with alcohol and a tannic somewhat redwine grapiness. There should be less oak, more caramel and less toast. Also, less alcohol unless the malt is made bigger.