Barleywine Ale
The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery

Barleywine AleBarleywine Ale
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From:
The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery
 
North Carolina, United States
Style:
American Barleywine
Ranked #174
ABV:
11%
Score:
86
Ranked #19,199
Avg:
3.82 | pDev: 13.35%
Reviews:
375
Ratings:
631
Status:
Active
Rated:
Oct 12, 2023
Added:
Dec 12, 2006
Wants:
  113
Gots:
  61
The Duck-Rabbit Barleywine is the hoppiest of all the Duck-Rabbit brews. This is a Farmville-style Barleywine, crafted the way brewers in Farmville have always done. Loads of Amarillo hops give a piney citrusy bitterness that's supported beautifully by a toffee malt backbone.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by GaryMarkle84:
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Rated by GaryMarkle84 from Virginia

3/5  rDev -21.5%

Jun 01, 2013
More User Ratings:
Photo of Fordcoyote15
Reviewed by Fordcoyote15 from Pennsylvania

4.26/5  rDev +11.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Decent barleywine. Its not easy to find this style for a $2.50 beer so no regrets about this one and could potentially see purchasing again.

Has a best buy date of January 23. Not sure if duck rabbit dates their barleywines for years down the road in which case this is pretty aged per style of thats just a standard dating they use across all their beers in which case this is pretty early in a barleywines life potential.

Poured extremely heady and foamy and I feared infection but nothing is off. Nice American barleywin aromas with a touch of apricot. When I poured out the second half of the beer a literal foam slug came out like I've never seen. Not a slug like you on stupid ass oreo cookie stouts et al but just an insanely insnaley dense clump of foam that plopped down and sat atop of the already 4 finger head. Whack.

Taste is pretty tame. No blow your palate off hops like Bigfoot but they are still there in an earthy punch. Lots of bread and caramel.

Feel is thing an dry.

Overall, again, solid for $2.50
Oct 12, 2023
Photo of jkblr
Reviewed by jkblr from Indiana

4.04/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
12oz bottle purchased at shelf temp recently and refrigerated before review. Notched to enjoy before 1 24 and listed at 11% ABV. The beer pours opaque dark amber with chestnut highlights and khaki colored head. The head recedes to a thin ring and scattered bubbles. Slight lacing. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring big caramel and pine / citrus hop notes. The taste is bittersweet with rich caramel malt first and heavily bitter, resinous piney & citrusy flavors on the tail. The mouthfeel is medium plus bodied with just less that average carbonation and a semi dry finish. Plenty of residual malt sugar and sticky hop resin, but not close to cloying or unpleasant. No alcohol presence in the nose or taste. Overall, excellent American style barley wine.
Jun 01, 2023
 
Rated: 3.91 by Curt3 from Ohio

Apr 23, 2022
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Reviewed by milkshakebeersucks from Maryland

3.97/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Clear mahogany appearance with a small tan head and scant lacing. Aroma of toffee, caramel and ripe fruit. Sweet malts pervade the flavor as earthy, floral hops add a bit of balance. Some dark fruit in the aftertaste. Dry, but not bitter. Like how it settles on the back of the palate. Alcohol is not too intrusive (as long as you're not driving. Decently carbonated, full bodied mouthfeel with a lingering finish.
Mar 19, 2021
 
Rated: 3.41 by Danzifer from Ohio

Mar 05, 2021
 
Rated: 3.94 by travelguy from Ohio

May 26, 2020
 
Rated: 3.81 by DVMin98 from North Carolina

May 24, 2020
Photo of BB1313
Reviewed by BB1313 from Ohio

3.81/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Best by February 2021. 12oz bottle poured into a tulip. Pours a light copper with nice clarity and transparency; creamy light khaki head that sticks around leaving great thick retention and sticky frothy lacing. Looks great. The aromas have citrus and caramel. Hops are there. Malts are there. The flavors follow the nose. More citrus, especially orange. More sticky caramel. Hints of dark fruit. Some cherries in the mix. This one has a decent bitterness to it along with a subtle sweetness. Bittersweet. Malts do their thing. Mild warmth in the finish, but it's not hot or boozy at all. Mouthfeel is on the lighter side of full-bodied with moderate carbonation. It's extremely fluffy, smooth and ultimately dangerously drinkable.

This is a solid barleywine. It basically has everything that you'd look for in an American version of the style. It's enjoyable stuff. I like it.
May 05, 2020
Photo of jjamadorphd
Reviewed by jjamadorphd from Florida

4.06/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This brewer rarely disappoints, and this one certainly does not...

Great looking brew right out of the bottle - light copperish color with haze, thin foam, no lacing. The smell revealed nothing about the 11% ABV, it was hidden quite well. Mouthfeel for that matter was carbonated but full-bodied and even slightly creamy. The taste was more bitter than I prefer but still a good blend with the booze, which were again, not face-forward. Overall, another good offering from a brewer I am always on the lookout.
Apr 27, 2020
 
Rated: 4.1 by Jcarriglio from Florida

Apr 25, 2020
Photo of Brutaltruth
Reviewed by Brutaltruth from Ohio

3.78/5  rDev -1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
From the 12 oz bottle in a snifter. This decent little brew pours a
beautiful copper tinged amber with a very nice head of off white
foam that subsides to a thick ring, thin swirling layer, and sports
some very nice lacing. Nose of pine heavy hops with grapefruit
zest and rich caramel notes. Flavors follow the nose with a
solid caramel malt backbone and heavy citrus of grapefruit
and light pineapple notes with a resinous pine hop and
light herbal notes. Nice mouth feel; medium body, smooth,
light carbonation that is lightly prickly, and a bitter hop
and moderate sweet semi dry finish.

Overall, a decent brew but could use some tweaking with
richer malt notes and some raisin elements. That said this
has been one I have wanted to try for quite awhile, and while
it is solid it is barely within the profile one would expect for
a barleywine.

Cheers
Feb 26, 2020
Photo of Sabtos
Reviewed by Sabtos from Ohio

3.41/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Foggy burnt amber to brown with a persistent, creamy khaki blanket leaving wobbly round lacing on the glass.

Woody pumpernickel and spice cake mix in with some dark fruits via a softly carbonated medium body that finishes cardboard dry. A little pine sap and resinous dankness develop over time, accompanied by a touch of stickiness.
Jan 21, 2020
Photo of muchos
Reviewed by muchos from Pennsylvania

4.28/5  rDev +12%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
L. Pretty much brown, translucent, khaki head.
S. Caramel, citrus, bready, some bitterness, not too much boozy-ness.
T. Caramel, bready, grassy bitterness, some citrus, finishes with brown sugar and citrus zest.
F. Leaning towards a full body, no boozy warming, hoppy resinous feel in the end.
O. One of the better barleywines I've had, fo sho. Just great. Cheers!
Oct 08, 2019
 
Rated: 3.89 by Gemini6 from Michigan

Jul 03, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by Lucular from Maryland

Apr 26, 2019
 
Rated: 4.53 by Higdon from Maryland

Dec 08, 2018
Photo of hoptheology
Reviewed by hoptheology from California

3.43/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.5
12 oz bottle purchased at Total Wine in Jacksonville, FL. Served in medium plain snifter.

Orange-ish amber hues with a creamy off-white head of 1/2 finger.

Aromas of caramel and fig, slight sticky dates, and slight hop spoilage, then finally more hot caramel.

Flavor is somewhere between a stale hop caramel sundae and licking a steel tank. It's kinda harsh, pretty hoppy, not exactly what I was expecting. Slightly vegetal.

Feel is hot and slick, with a moderate to heavy carbonation.

Overall a bit disappointing but if you like hoppy barleywines give this one a shot.
Dec 03, 2018
Photo of Bouleboubier
Reviewed by Bouleboubier from New Jersey

4.03/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
(12 oz bottle, purchased cold; enjoy by Feb 2019... poured into a snifter)

L: mostly-clear, deep orange-amber hued liquid, slight chill/hop haze (which clears a little); bubbly pad of khaki-colored foam builds, then settles into thin, messy cap and collar... no sediment, little lacing

S: crown uncapped, aromas jet forth... rather hoppy (but in decay), mashed and bruised fleshy citrus rind, dried-out caramel chunks... underlying almost whiskey-like booze slowly creeps up from the back... lemon and grapefruit thick in the mix; most dominant scents are its perfumy/solventy hop-phenol blend, leathery mid-dark malts and resins lurking below

T: grapefruity hop resins galore, attenuated sheet of delicately-toasty pale and caramel malts, odd fusel swell in the finish (dying off by second sip), lightly-spicy softly-pungent marriage of ethanol and hop bitterness in the aftertaste... its lovely tannic bitterness begins to set up shop after the second sip; spice note inches up along the way, light golden raisin note takes hold by very end...

F: mildly malt-nectar-y, fleecy resinous texture... its finish leaves a red-warm glow; delicately oily, rather dry sensation

O: West Coast style all the way, though I was expecting a much richer malt foundation, or at least its flavor tipped in that direction - I suppose the high charge of hops (bitterness) could be throwing off its perception... still pretty decent, could see having again
Oct 01, 2018
Photo of drtth
Reviewed by drtth from Pennsylvania

3.85/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
The rich brownish ruby colored beer pours out into a snifter glass with a 1/4” tan head that a circle and some legs of lacing on the sides of the glass as it recedes to a thin ring around the glass and a small thin irregular cover of foam on the liquid. Sipping creates lots of scattered small patches of lacing, some of which merge and some of which slide back down to the liquid.

The aromas are rich with caramel or toffee, along with some resin and a bit of citrus. There’s also some dark fruit and a nice rich malt character here. The fruits include some plums, raisins, and possibly a bit of green apple.

The flavors are much as expected from the nose with some sweet caramel, some resin and a bit of citrus, but with the bitterness being more pronounced and forward than expected. There are also are some dark fruits and a just a bit of nutty character. These flavors are all intertwingled into a fairly complex profile that is challenging to untangle but always has that bitterness component. The alcohol is well concealed and only noticeable as the warmth begins to spread.

The mouthfeel is on the full side of medium bodied and fairly smooth with the finely bubbled, gentle carbonation. The finish begins as the malt and it’s sweetness give way to the resinous bitterness that fades more slowly and persists to the almost spicy and dry ending that follows the disappearance of the caramel and the fruits.

A drinkable beer made for sipping. This is definitely a temperature sensitive beer that should not be consumed at a very low temperature. With this ABV it is a one a night beer but something I could return to again sometime. That all said, if I never find it again it won’t upset me. There are plenty of other Barleywines as good or better that I could be drinking and this one doesn’t really stand out from the pack of locally brewed ones except for a bit more resinous, slightly citric bitterness that not many have.
Aug 27, 2018
Barleywine Ale from The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery
Beer rating: 86 out of 100 with 631 ratings