30th Anniversary - Jack & Ken's Ale
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

30th Anniversary - Jack & Ken's Ale30th Anniversary - Jack & Ken's Ale
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From:
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
 
California, United States
Style:
American Barleywine
ABV:
10.2%
Score:
93
Avg:
4.16 | pDev: 9.86%
Reviews:
441
Ratings:
829
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Sep 04, 2023
Added:
Jul 27, 2010
Wants:
  33
Gots:
  218
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Beaver13:
Photo of Beaver13
Reviewed by Beaver13 from Colorado

3.63/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
750ml bottle. Pours a dark brown black with a huge creamy light tan head that retains well and laces the glass.

The aroma is roasted chocolate malts, some piney hops and some grapefruit.

The flavor is lots of burnt roasted malts with a lot of residual sweetness and some fruits and a huge roasted piney bitter bang in the finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and kind of watery with low carbonation.

Overall, an interesting beer. Not quite well balanced - there's a lot of sweetness fighting with a lot of hops now. Reminds me a bit of some Black IPAs (esp the bigger hoppier ones).
Jan 10, 2011
More User Ratings:
Photo of SABERG
Reviewed by SABERG from Massachusetts

3.98/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
Poured from the cage and caork 750 ml bottle.
A - Chalkboard dark color, still a vibrant cap, no lacing per se
S - Hops, cocoa, alcohol. a bit of black pepper, and currant
T - All the aromatics, plus candied orange peel, dark malts,
M - Medium in body, a touch of slickness. amazing dry finish
O - Black IPA/Barleywine mash up, all the best elements of both styles. Impressed how well this offering ages.
Sadly our last bottle
Sep 04, 2023
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.91/5  rDev -6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Bottle at RBSG 17 grand tasting. Dark, ruddy brown small beige head. Sweet aroma, molasses and brown sugar, roast malts. Taste is also sweet, right on target, and has held up reasonably well over time. Some odd citrus elements here too, a bit of warmth also.
Jun 03, 2023
 
Rated: 3.98 by Sammy from Canada (ON)

May 09, 2022
 
Rated: 4.19 by Thirstygoat from Illinois

Jan 01, 2021
Photo of BKotch
Reviewed by BKotch from Texas

4.19/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
Damned impressive. All of the 30th anniversary beers, but particularly the stout and the black barleywine. Aroma and flavor remain vibrant, mouthfeel is off a little but at 10 years, what can one expect? A good pop of the cork when I opened it presaged a real shock.
Jul 14, 2020
Photo of MutuelsMark
Reviewed by MutuelsMark from Kentucky

4.36/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Tried on 3/3/19, so 9 years aged. Nose is similar to barley, but flavors of stout.
Tried again in 2021, 11 year old and was excellent. Very robust yet smooth. Hints of caramel.
Mar 03, 2019
 
Rated: 4.09 by Gavilan from Virginia

Jan 20, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by brittanylicious from Indiana

Jan 05, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by heysuz from Indiana

Jan 05, 2019
Photo of Blackop555
Reviewed by Blackop555 from Michigan

4.04/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Pours dark brown. Thick, medium, tan had that Fades slowly.

Smells roasted malts, caramel, dark fruit and light bitter chocolate.

Tastes roasty, raisin, Plum, caramel, brown sugar, Light Citrus and light chocolate. Finishes dry with a roast and light Char linger. Medium body and smooth lower carbonation.

Would have rated higher this tastes really good but more like an black IPA
Sep 10, 2018
 
Rated: 4.29 by Quafftastic from Virginia

Sep 03, 2018
 
Rated: 3.82 by SadMachine from New Jersey

Mar 04, 2018
 
Rated: 3.89 by PhilHarmstead from New Jersey

Mar 04, 2018
 
Rated: 4.85 by Dodt from Pennsylvania

Jan 09, 2018
 
Rated: 4.16 by baklo from North Carolina

Dec 23, 2017
Photo of wmartin
Reviewed by wmartin from North Carolina

4.73/5  rDev +13.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Brewed once in 2010? Correct.
Retired listing? Yep.
Bought this at the brewery a year ago and just drank it? That's right!

Why were they selling a 6 year old beer at the brewery? As this was a beer they thought would age well in the bottle, they kept some back and sold some of the fridge-aged version a year ago, thinking it was probably peaking. No doubt they sampled it along the way every few months. It kept getting better as the hops mellowed allowing the maltiness to become more forward, while retaining a strong, bitter after taste. I had some a year ago. Really remarkable. So smooth, so delicious. Its 10% ABV, but the alcohol is pretty far back. Dark sweetness and fruity flavors that are amazing. They probably thought that after 6 years it must be peaking. They were wrong, an additional year of closet storage has improved it still, and that would probably be 2 to 3 years of fridge storage. Certainly one of the best liquids to ever pass my lips!
Jul 16, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by csfcmitchell from Texas

Jun 29, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by MDDMD from Pennsylvania

Mar 18, 2017
 
Rated: 4.13 by szmnnl99 from Michigan

Feb 05, 2017
30th Anniversary - Jack & Ken's Ale from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 93 out of 100 with 829 ratings