Blood From The Barrel
Steel Toe Brewing

Beer Geek Stats
From:
Steel Toe Brewing
 
Minnesota, United States
Style:
Belgian Dark Strong Ale
ABV:
9%
Score:
Needs more ratings
Avg:
3.77 | pDev: 13.26%
Reviews:
4
Ratings:
8
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jun 30, 2015
Added:
Feb 05, 2015
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  1
Belgian Style Dark Ale aged in Malbec wine barrels.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Ratings by XmnwildX12:
Photo of XmnwildX12
Rated by XmnwildX12 from Minnesota

3.75/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Mar 31, 2015
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 2.5 by kscaldef from Oregon

Jun 30, 2015
Photo of maximum12
Reviewed by maximum12 from Minnesota

3.97/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
It’s always hard to grab limited Steel Toe releases…because they’re always so good. Buying one bottle can leave one regretting not punishing the debit card. The base beer was very good, so I have high hopes. 750ML thick-eyeglass bottle, corked & caged, split with my wife.

The pour is red – dare I say blood red – thick-looking, as impenetrable as a stout. Surprisingly healthy head. The nose smells like waking up in a pinot noir barrel: great oak, wine, with only a spade of sweetness to belie the underlying brew.

Blood From The Barrel is an interesting beer. First, I’m not sure I believe the 9% ABV: this warms the belly like the beast that is Chocolate Rain, which benches twice that number. The base beer peeks like it fails to do in the nose: slightly spicy, with a plummy, jammy fruitiness that’s accented by the Malbec, with a figgy/raisiny twist at the end. Warm oak is what really comes from the barrel, but without the usual drying quality. The beer feels full, with that sharp wine quality – not in the taste, but in the mouthfeel, if that makes sense. Sickly drinkable. I could shotgun some of this.

Aside from the nose & some nice, nice, nice oak that runs through the brew, the barrel here is subtle. Not a bad thing, but it doesn’t differentiate it from the base too much. But I’m not complaining; another very good beer.
Jun 03, 2015
Photo of jera1350
Reviewed by jera1350 from Minnesota

3.84/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
The aroma holds more of the red wine and oak scents. The look is murky burgundy with some light carbonation floating on top. The taste is very Quad like, with a boozy and wood tannin bite. The finish offers up more oak and some light red wine notes. Very dry feel with light carbonation. Nice Belgian style attempt here from Steel Toe.
May 04, 2015
Photo of morimech
Reviewed by morimech from Minnesota

3.88/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
I rated this beer back in 2015 but now reviewing in 2020 so a full 5 years of bottle conditioning. How time flies. I remember liking it but was not terribly impressed either. I know my tastes have changed but have not gone overboard to the sweet side like it seemed to happen to today's beer geeks. There is a strong wine barrel character in this beer. I like it but I know many will not. A bit of a woody but not really vanilla quality but I think that is a French oak quality and unlike what American oak with its vanilla has on alcohol aged in its barrels. Hides its alcohol well as I would hope a 5 year old beer would. Still a little shallow in flavor. Five years later the beer has held up well, but I stand behind my original scores.
May 03, 2015
Photo of feloniousmonk
Reviewed by feloniousmonk from Minnesota

4.18/5  rDev +10.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Blood From The Barrel. Belgian-style Dark Strong Ale, 90% Aged in French Oak Wine Barrels. 9.0% Alc./Vol., bottle conditioned.

Appearance: Dark. Dusky. Murky burgundy, under a thin ring of head.

Aroma: sweetness. malt. yeast. dark fruits, raisins, plums, dates and cherries. Blueberry? Richness abounds, and the Belgian character is peeking through.

Taste: Boom. Thick and rich and full, bursting with flavor. Damn. Big, fat malt, lush fruitiness, ultimately ending on a long, dry note. Warm and wonderful.

Steel Toe is not known for doing Belgian-style beers. I'm glad they've branched out into this new territory. Not too much of anything, just enough of everything else. Lots of wine barrel flavors in here…and I'm scanning the brainpan, trying to think of what else is left to say…did I mention Yum?

No "gobbledygook" at all, as usual, just the necessary information, government warnings, etcetera. No need, the proof is in the bottle. And the barrel surely did bleed through on this one. I'd want to try the base beer, to see how far it is far this barrel-blessed version. Until that lucky day, this is damned fine stuff.
Apr 08, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by Bunuelian from Minnesota

Mar 30, 2015
 
Rated: 4.05 by TboneRN from Minnesota

Mar 29, 2015
Blood From The Barrel from Steel Toe Brewing
Beer rating: 3.77 out of 5 with 8 ratings