Old Barrel Dweller
Driftwood Brewery

 

Driftwood Brewery 'Old Barrel Dweller' @ 11.8% , sampled on *cask* at GCBF'13 , cellaring 2012 red waxed bottle opened on Dec13/15 for somebody's lucky 50th birthday :)
A-pour is a murky brown from the cask/bottle to a dark brown/red in the glass with a smallish dissipating beige head leaving a spotty lace film along the snifter
S-boozy bourbon barrel , hints of figs & molasses
T-bourbon , oak & vanilla stand out , also dark candied fruit
MF-medium viscosity and low level of carbonation , big full body that certainly warms the body as more is consumed
Ov-wow , with only a couple of years added to it this beer it gets so much better , smoother yet still packs a punch
prost LampertLand

Bottle: Poured a murky brown color ale with a large foamy head with ok retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of residual sugar notes is pretty dominant with some vanilla and bourbon notes also easily noticeable. Taste is a mix of sweet caramelized malt notes with some toffee, some oak, and bourbon and vanilla notes. Body is full with limited filtration and good carbonation with some light warming alcohol notes also perceptible. Quite the nightcap with a heavy dose of sugar and loads of barrel notes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Got this one from Rutager in a recent swap. This brewery has done nothing but impress the crap out of me. Cheers man!

From a bomber into a snifter
Vintage: 2012
Drunk right after a 2012 base beer

APPEARANCE: Pours a one finger, medium -thin looking, slightly fizzy, off-white head with lousy retention. Head quickly recedes to a splotchy wisp and ring. Clear burnt umber in color with medium levels of carbonation evident. A ring remains until the end but leaves no real lacing down the glass. Looks exactly the same as the base beer, both of which aren't as nice as the 2011 vintage a while back.

SMELL: Oak, vanilla and bourbon notes with toffee, caramel and light citrus hops on the nose. Bolder aromas with a nice mix of barrel over base beer. Really good.

TASTE: More boozy than the base beer for sure. Oak, bourbon and lots of caramel and toffee sweetness up front, moving into a boozy and spicy alcoholic finish. Big and lingering aftertaste of bourbon, spicy alcohol, toffee sweetness and hints of vanilla from the wood aging, as well as touches of bitter hops on the palate. Really nice.

PALATE: Medium body and medium levels of carbonation. A touch lighter than the base beer perhaps, but very creamy smooth, goes down smooth and finishes mouth-coating. Lots of spicy alcohol lingers on the palate.

OVERALL: Really nice stuff. Lots of good flavor and aroma while still being well balanced as well. The feel wasn't quite as good as it could have been and the look not as solid as the 2011 vintage, but this was top class. Definitely worth checking out if you get the chance, so thanks again for giving me the opportunity Rutager. Highly recommended. Cheers!

 

 

***2012 Vintage***

Big thanks to FondueVoodoo for this one!

Poured from a 650ml. bottle.

Appearance: Pours a dark chestnut brown but looks blood red in the glass, nice sized head that looks a little whipped and spongy.

Smell: Sweet smelling bourbon, delicious aroma, like candy, rustic, leather, dark fruits.

Taste: Wow, rich flavor, bourbon is quite strong but never overpowering, reaches all parts of the palate, very good bourbon candy.

Mouthfeel: Texture is ultra smooth, melts in the mouth yet brash, strong bodied all the way.

Overall: This is a beast of a beer but tastes so good!

 

 

Thanks to Rutager for sending me a box full of cellarable, gorgeous-looking Canuck beers that I'd been slavering after for some time. After enjoying Old Cellar Dweller I've been looking forward to this one. 2012 vintage, red wax, 22 oz. bottle split with my wife.

The wax is unpleasantly rubbery, but not too terrible to tear off; meanwhile, my wife is peppering my ears about some magic wine-cutting tool she used at a friend's last week. I'd buy that. The barrel has changed the pour, minimal carbonation, melted tofu in color. The nose is unchanged as well: toffee, caramel, but now there's a wicked shot of bourbon. And it's not hiding. An improvement on good.

Old Barrel Dweller kicks even harder than its mule-legged forebearer. Alcohol stings all the way up to the eyelids; love me some booziness in my beer, but zoohoola. The barrel tries to crush your hand in greeting: big bourbon presence & even more vanilla spinning off the booze. Toffee, caramel, brown sugar that are so prominent in the base beer sit halfway up the theatre seats here. Bare hint of oxidation, or it might be fading hops that leave a maple leaf hint right at the end. Then the booze surf crashes on the shores of my forebrain in closing.

I've been really happy with everything sent me from Driftwood, & this puppy is the best to date. The barrel hasn't improved the very good base beer hugely, but it has made it bigger, badder, harder-ass, light-your-breath-on-fire-even-more version. Excellent beer that could hold its head proudly among barrel-aged barleywines.

Year: 2012
A: Topped with a pale tan blanket of extremely fine foam head, the deep burnt umber ale shines a rich dark copper under direct light. Carbonation gently raises around the edge of the glass adding to the ring of mirco-foam.

S: Rich and smooth bourbon is front and centre. Sweet earthy scents of honey, malts and dark dried fruits and almonds support the bourbon and alcohol esters. The scent suggests a vanilla smoothness throughout like a solid base note. Notable that there is no scents of hops.

T: Dark cherries and huge bourbon bloom with raisins and dark malts. Noticeable end notes of wet wood and wine barrels - very rich and smooth and oaky, paired with honey. Some notes of a dry dark chocolate ...oh and did I mention the bourbon?

M: Blast of alcohol esters - but very pleasing and satisfying as a night cap. A thick syrup mouth feel with just the most subtle hint of a carbonation buzz. Fills the entire mouth with warming bourbon ester.

O: Smooth, rich and velvety offering that presents bourbon as a central scent and flavour note. Warming ester the sink deep to the core and unabashed in it's alcohol content - is a whopper and incredible night cap with a cheese platter.