Rebel & Conquer BA
Brouwerij De Molen

 

 

Pours a cloudy, deep, dark ruby coloration with a medium, creamy head. Smells of rich caramel malt and red fruit: redcurrant, cranberry, strawberry, with lighter notes of toffee, brown sugar and dark fruit: plum, fig and a certain, woody barrel presence. Taste follows the nose, with an excellent balance of equally rich caramel malt and red fruits: redcurrant, cranberry, strawberry and lighter notes of toffee, brown sugar and dark fruits: plum, fig and just a hint of bitter, piney, citrus hops and a certain earthy, woody barrel presence. Finishes bittersweet, with a light bitterness and some toffee, red fruits and pine lingering in the aftertaste. Full mouthfeel with a rich body and medium carbonation.

While I'm not really a huge fan of Barleywines and don't have much experience rating them, this seems like a very well-done example of the style with an excellent balance of malt sweetness and hop bitterness, just like an American Barleywine should be like, I reckon. There's a good complexity to this as well, with quite rich toffee and red/dark fruit notes, as well as some citrus hops and pine. Unfortunately, the Tequila barrel isn't really coming through all that much, except for a mild earthy/woody presence and perhaps just a hint of spice.