Grand Reserve
Parish Brewing Company

Grand ReserveGrand Reserve
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From:
Parish Brewing Company
 
Louisiana, United States
Style:
American Barleywine
Ranked #46
ABV:
11%
Score:
94
Ranked #2,854
Avg:
4.23 | pDev: 7.8%
Reviews:
17
Ratings:
106
Status:
Active
Rated:
Oct 25, 2023
Added:
Dec 01, 2012
Wants:
  22
Gots:
  41
Grand Reserve should be saved and shared. Brewed only once per year, our Barleywine Ale is characterized by an intensely complex malt, hop, and fermentation profile.

60 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of StonedTrippin
Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

4.47/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
2017 vintage, absolutely mesmerizing, one of the best barleywines ive had in ages, and frankly a beer that needs no barrel, which i think we as beer nerds sometimes forget about this style, i can be incredible without oak and bourbon, and this is that. been saving this awhile, and i was impressed with the pour, frothy and bottle conditioned, tiny bubbles collecting in a belgian looking nearly two inches of creamy burlap head, while the body is mahogany and rich looking without being too leggy in my red wine glass, and with close to immaculate clarity. the nose shows zero oxidation, surprising for its age and oddly dry for the style, not dry per se, but dry as barleywine goes. brown sugar, maple, toffee, belgian candy sugar, date sugar, raisin, rum, and even dried cranberry and prune fruitiness, seemingly an english yeast and very little alcohol for what it is. it opens a lot as it warms in the nose, and shows chestnut and almond wrinkles too later on, just wonderful, and curiously delicate. even without a barrel treatment it exhibits wood notes to me, very earthy and again with less continuous sweetness than i am used to in these, the age is likely done wonders in this regard. i get a little leather, basement must, and even belgian malt layers, that chateau abbey kind of vibe, and in the end this almost hits like barleywine fused with dubbel or quad. it never shows any sign of its formidable strength, has a gentle mouthfeel with stunning carbonation that should borderline be the new standard for the style, and a lightness about it for being this strong and complex, its so refined that its genre defining in that regard, as good as it gets really. the cellar has been kind to this, and i hope to encounter it again, a truly impressive specimen and one of the only non hoppy parish beers ive had. always planned to drink this with a homie who loves barleywine as much as i do, and finally the day came. worth saving, i absolutely loved this!
Oct 25, 2023
 
Rated: 4.79 by mshanecrowe from Mississippi

Jun 11, 2022
Photo of Jugs_McGhee
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Colorado

3.08/5  rDev -27.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Currently ranked #32 on the top "Barleywine - American" beer list and #10 on the top Louisiana Beers list.

2015 vintage. 750ml bottle courtesy of the set dec department on a TV show I worked on that happened to have featured the brewery in-picture (prompting them to send us a bunch of vintage bottles of this and Imperial Reserve).

"Cellared Annual Ale."

Served chilled into a stemless wine glass.

Plum, prune, dates, maybe fig...this hits on many stonefruits I'd expect to find in a Belgian style quadrupel, and to good effect. Faint caramelized sugars, maybe some vinous flavour. Zero hop flavour (okay, maybe some generic herbal flavour).

More mellow than its 11% ABV would suggest, but still approachable.

Residual sweetness remains high as is to be expected, but I can't shake the notion it's still a bit out of balance.

C+ / ABOVE AVERAGE
Apr 24, 2021
Photo of hoptheology
Reviewed by hoptheology from California

4.07/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Hard toffee color with a thin fingernail of head, speckled lacing.

Aroma of equal amounts hard toffee and piney hop. Bridging the gap between both styles.

Flavor is initially watery, then toffee, herbal hop, root beer, dry whiskey, and slight plum. Doesn't seem to be in the same zipcode as the Imperial Reserve that was literally the best beer I ever had.

Feel is thin and hot. Sticky. Firm.

Overall good but not enough to buy a bomber. :)


This was the last beer left over and we ended up just shotgunning it at the end. Wasn't good enough to finish on its own out of pure enjoyment.
Mar 01, 2021
 
Rated: 4.21 by beaulabauve from Louisiana

Nov 28, 2020
 
Rated: 4.16 by paresis from Massachusetts

Aug 28, 2020
Photo of sd123
Rated by sd123 from Georgia

4.33/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2015
Dec 08, 2019
 
Rated: 4.4 by LXIXME from New Mexico

May 23, 2019
 
Rated: 3.43 by bigdog3838 from Florida

Apr 14, 2019
Photo of Buck89
Reviewed by Buck89 from Tennessee

4.18/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2014 vintage poured into a tulip glass. A dark hazy brown color with a medium sized light tan head. Great lacing in the glass. Aroma featured plum and cherries along with caramel and toffee. The taste was much more mellow. Rich caramel and toffee notes met with a floral bitterness that kept things in check. Overall a well made Barleywine with smooth and delicious flavors.
Mar 15, 2019
Photo of SHODriver
Reviewed by SHODriver from North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2015 Edition

A: Poured into a snifter to a deep gold that's closer to light brown which is topped by a dense and rocky two and a half finger cream colored head which fades slowly to a collar around the edge of the glass with some lacing
S: Smells of caramel and brown sugar with some slight citrus and earthy hop notes. Hints of pine resin as well
T: Taste is brown sugar and caramel with some lightly toasted malts, nice citrus and earthy hop with just a touch of pine. The malt sweetness sticks around throughout the drink and the hops have definitely faded a bit. On the swallow this one is faded citrus and earthy hops with some lingering caramel and brown sugar sweetness.
M: This beer is fairly full in body with a slightly chewy feel on the palate. Carbonation is light yet effervescent while the beer has a drying finish.
O: Overall this is an really nice american barleywine. It's held up well to about four years of aging but the hops still make themselves known. Really nice complexity and balance of flavors. Well worth a try if you can find it.
Mar 06, 2019
 
Rated: 4.09 by RayCannata from Louisiana

Dec 05, 2018
 
Rated: 3.75 by BdM from Netherlands

Aug 21, 2018
 
Rated: 4.25 by Dizzy242 from Massachusetts

Jul 03, 2018
Photo of darktronica
Reviewed by darktronica from Indiana

4.19/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
2017 vintage, 750 mL bottle. Pours a muddy copper-brown with nice carbonation that dissipates relatively quickly. Viscous. Appealing malts, sorghum, and floral hops on the nose. Raw sugar cane, hop bitterness, citrus oils and toast on the palate. Moderately thin body, and somewhat dry.
May 28, 2018
 
Rated: 3.77 by jaydoc from Kansas

Feb 05, 2018
 
Rated: 3.8 by Leo_Blanke from Louisiana

Dec 20, 2017
 
Rated: 4.99 by ktjudice from Louisiana

Dec 16, 2017
 
Rated: 4.54 by MJSFS from Florida

Nov 20, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by Eziel from Ohio

Oct 03, 2017
Grand Reserve from Parish Brewing Company
Beer rating: 94 out of 100 with 106 ratings