Old Antonia Calvados Barrel Aged
Birra Del Borgo

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From:
Birra Del Borgo
 
Italy
Style:
Imperial IPA
ABV:
11.2%
Score:
85
Avg:
3.69 | pDev: 11.65%
Reviews:
5
Ratings:
16
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Dec 20, 2016
Added:
Mar 08, 2013
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  1
No description / notes.
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Ratings by liamt07:
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Rated by liamt07 from Canada (ON)

2.5/5  rDev -32.2%

Jun 09, 2013
More User Ratings:
Photo of BrownNut
Reviewed by BrownNut from Florida

3.41/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.25
Well I'm afraid this one is dead. I knew it was a gamble but it has faded away. I guess it's pretty much what you'd expect for a hoppy beer after this long. I love brandies so I hoped it had held up and had been thicker to start with. Nope. I would not recommend you buy it at this point given that it's expensive but spent. Most of the flavor seems to have departed with the hops. It's not unpleasant but it's a ghost of whatever it used to be, and I gave it every chance - a tulip glass and cool but not cold. It's not a pretty beer at this point and was nearly impossible to get any head from, then you've got the yeast, so it looks like unfiltered apple cider. Any bitterness remaining is like what you get from oxidized apple + its skin. The calvados notes are there, speaking of apples, but old and faint. There's a hint of sherry, more on the nose than the palate, but in the palate as well. Oh well.
Dec 20, 2016
 
Rated: 3.5 by Kroehny_Loves_Hops from Australia

Jun 26, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Fitze from South Carolina

May 29, 2014
Photo of dgilks
Reviewed by dgilks from Australia

3.34/5  rDev -9.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Hazy amber colour with a smooth, creamy, offwhite head. Good head retention.

Light barrel and oak notes but there isn't really anything else here. Very light malt. A touch disappointing as there really should be some, even if not a lot of hop.

Sweet. Touches of apple from the Calvados. Mild oak. No hops. Slightly spicy. Hmmmm.

Medium body with moderately high carbonation. Good.

A solid but entirely unexceptional beer. The sweetness dominates a beer that really should feature some hop and bitterness. Good barrel though.
Apr 16, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Poupae from Thailand

Mar 16, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by YobroitsJoe from Maryland

Jan 30, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by JAHMUR from Connecticut

Jul 17, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by Hopstout from Minnesota

Jun 12, 2013
Photo of Dope
Reviewed by Dope from Massachusetts

3.84/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A: Pours a cloudy ruby red. Big and fizzy light tan head. Head fades slowly, Moderate horizontal streaks of lacing. Good retention.

S: Lots of boozy apples for sure. Pretty much pure spirits, maybe a little caramel sweetness in there too?

T: Whoa. Heavy on the barrel aging for sure. Huge amounts of apple brandy up front. Sharp booziness. Totally obliterates the base beer, at least in the beginning. In the middle, there is some of that dry, biscuity, crackery-type malt. Hints of grassy hops and some grapefruit as well in the finish. Not much, the aging has pretty much snuffed them out. Lingering drying crackers and a little apple in the aftertaste.

M: Medium bodied, slick. Not nearly as heavy as you'd expect for 11%+ ABV.

O: Very unique beer. Not many (if any) calvados-aged DIPAs on the market. This has clearly spent extensive time in barrels and honestly I'm not sure if it improves the base beer. The hoppiness is almost completely gone, and the brandy covers up much of the base beer as well. Honestly, I still liked it, even though it's a completely different beer (I would never even begin to suspect that My Antonia is the base beer if I had this blind). Nice brandy flavor that melds surprisingly well despite the strength of the barrel treatment.
Jun 06, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by MMAJYK from Georgia

Apr 18, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by THECPJ from Delaware

Apr 02, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by ADTaber from South Carolina

Mar 27, 2013
Photo of ADZA
Reviewed by ADZA from Australia

3.94/5  rDev +6.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Comes in a lovely little grenade looking bottle and pours a golden bronze hue with a one finger head and nice clingy lacing everywhere,on smell the calvados is very dominant with booze,apples,fruit punch and toffee filling the background,the mouthfeel is medium bodied and well carbonated with tastes of sticky toffee,fruit punch,calvados,oak,boozy alcohol and finished with a warming apple pie dryness and overall I like it the calvados makes itself well known and maybe a little less ageing would be nice to see in future as the base beer is hidden abit too much cheers.
Mar 23, 2013
 
Rated: 4.25 by shigg85 from Japan

Mar 15, 2013
Photo of ThePorterSorter
Reviewed by ThePorterSorter from Oregon

3.79/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Aged in Domaine Dupont Calvados barrels for over 1 year, 11.2oz weird shaped bottle

The beer pours a well carbonated, tarnished copper color with a thin, yet dense, off-white head that laces. The nose is caramel covered apples and some underlying spice. I can't detect any hops... which is unfortunate if this is truly an IPA (as the label declares). However, as expected, the beer tastes sticky sweet with a big apple & spice presence, smoothed out from the barrel, followed by a lingering cinnamon-like bite and slightly tart finish. Once again, not getting much from the hops...The beer reminds me (to an extent) of CL's golden delicious in both sweetness and body (both solidly medium bodied). Frankly, there is almost no booze, in the nose/taste/mouthfeel, which is impressive for an 11.2%abv barrel aged beer. It drinks like a dessert beer/evening sipper. I'd probably recommend it to others, but make sure they're by no means expecting a DIPA
Mar 08, 2013
Old Antonia Calvados Barrel Aged from Birra Del Borgo
Beer rating: 85 out of 100 with 16 ratings