Blunderbuss Barleywine 2012, Bourbon Barrel / Dry-hop Blend
Cambridge Brewing Company

Pours a dark amber maybe mahogany, a little hazier than the other Blunderbusses. Getting some red hot candy, atomic fireball jawbreaker candy on the nose. It's got a cinnamon spice character - kind of like a cinnamon roll - but without the sugar sweetness. It's dried out nicely. Not getting as much of the dry hop after 10 years.

Enjoyed at the barley wine festival. Reviewed from notes.

A - Poured into a snifter a clearish chestnut hue with a thin off white head that fades to leave a very thin halo.

S - Aromas of light old hops, light resinous notes. Good solid malt sweetness. The hops are quite pleasant.

T - Taste is similar to the nose with a light hop resin. Very, very faint on the barleywine taste though. Mostly just drinks like a caramel sauce.

M - Mouthfeel is lightly carbonated, good creaminess, alcohol hidden well.

O - Overall this was a solid beer, however, the hops were mostly hidden by the sticky sweetness of the barleywine.

Serving Type: On Tap

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First had: on tap at CBC

This was a blend of two '12 Blunderbuss batches, one aged in bourbon oak barrels, the other aged in steel and dry-hopped.

Hazy, tarnished copper hue, topped with a small cap of bubbly off-white head that retained as a small collar. Aroma of raisins, solvent, and a generous amount of hops, pretty atypical from your average barleywine, though not completely unheard of. More of the same in the taste, with a definite solvent / fusel alcohol twinge in there, toasted grains, raisins and figs, notably hoppy with a bitterness that started about mid-palate and lasted into the aftertaste. Body was about medium to heavy-medium, not really as smooth as I like a barleywine to be, but it's still apparent what they were going for here, moderate carbonation, and while the alcohol was definitely present, it wasn't too hot. Pretty good overall.