13th Anniversary Barrel-Aged Golden Barleywine
Fremont Brewing Company

 

A - Copper bronze colored pour with light carbonation and dense creamy colored lacing and medium carbonation.

S - Sweet toasted caramel, and vanilla.

T - Toasted caramel (on the sweeter side) with a big alcohol presence, vanilla, maple, and honey while ending on the sweeter, boozier side. Big alcohol presence.

M - Silky texture with pronounced warming on the way down.

O - Very good!

22oz bottle picked up at Big Head's Bottle Shop in Missoula, MT; enjoyed in honor of my daughter's 13th birthday
Poured into a Bissell Brothers tulip

P deep copper/caramel color w/ a slight haze; 1. 5f off-white head
N med strength nose (less bold than anticipated, but pleasant); sweet toffee, booze, and a touch of bready malt
T profile is laden with rich toffee, caramel, vanilla, bready malt, and booze; extremely smooth; light-med warming fin, w/ just a touch of booze lingering in the aftertaste; nicely-layered and quite tasty
Mf med-full bodied w/ soft-med to med carb; extremely smooth once again; really nice
O another excellent barrel-aged offering from Fremont and absolutely worthy of being a celebratory brew

Review date: 07.15.25
Bottle date: not captured

Picked up a 22oz waxed bottle from the Co-op Kensington store cold beer room on 7-11-25 for $33.39 CAD. The 13th Anniversary brew was released in August 2022. Consumed 7-14-25.

Beer poured light brown with a nice off white head with the original pour.

Nose is very nice, getting notes of caramel, peaches, and cherries.

Taste is a large caramel malt base that gives me notes of toffee, raisins, and cherries. Barrel brings oak, vanilla, and a fresh whiskey vibe. Finishes balanced with a touch of boozy cherry in post sip aspirations.

Mouthfeel is medium to large bodied and very soft and smooth.

Overall this is a tasty brew that was worth the splurge!

i have not had enough of these anniversary releases they do, they arent cheap and they arent that easy to get, but i should make a better effort, this is about as good a barleywine of any persuasion as ive had all year or longer, its exemplary and outstanding, smooth and complex, lovely barrel character. apparently its blended from beers of different maturities, which is neat, and this does seem full spectrum and well rounded and all of that. i wouldnt call it golden, even though they do, its red anyway, old penny colored with a little more creaminess and retention to the head than anticipated, light haze but pretty refined looking for what it is, decidedly richer than golden, but whatever, i see what they are doing here, keeping it a tad lighter on the grain side, still caramel forward to my nose and tongue, but not as baked and bready, not as warm and enriched, it plays nicely in that raisin fruitiness space, pipe tobacco, dried cherry, fig, that sort of thing, hints of port wine and vanilla as well, and of course the bourbon, lots of it in aroma and flavor, barrel char, oak, corn sweetness, maple, butterscotch, and more vanilla, wet wood, very old as it warms, chestnut, flattering oxidation, and some english character to me on the fermentation, which is a key part of this, mellow as it is. black tea, toffee, and quite sweet but in an elegant way, softens some of the alcohol which is still quite apparent in this, and there is balancing bitterness too. super super long on the palate, very layered and interesting, earthen and leathery, oak soaked and cane sugary, strong and patient, very well aged and blended, quality bourbon barrels for this no doubt. a very special beer, worth the steep asking price, and frankly about as good as it gets. the golden moniker is intriguing but not really applicable to me in the glass, but that is not a critique. i absolutely loved this, and hope to try some of the other anniversary editions!

A - Pours a clear amber with a fizzy off white head.

S - Aroma is toffee, maple, vanilla, raisins and bourbon.

T - The taste is toffee, vanilla, maple, raisins, oak and nice bourbon warmth throughout.

M - Full body with medium carbonation.

22oz bottle into a tulip. Pours a slightly murky (possibly chill hazed) honey amber with minimal head.

Aroma is fruity and sweet—candi sugar, honey, bready malt, vanilla, oak.

Taste is likewise mostly sweet with notes of honey, maple, and vanilla. Overripe banana as it warms. Actually, this reminds me of a loaf of banana bread my wife made once where she used way too much rum. Mellow and unassuming with a boozy warming effect.

Mouthfeel is medium heavy, slick, coating. Sweet aftertaste lingers.

Overall a balanced, well constructed barleywine. It’s listed here as American but I’m not getting a ton of hops—not sure how it was designated as American vs. English. Nothing on the Fremont site or Untappd provides info re: style. Based on other reviews below I might submit a request to change the style listing. In any case it’s quite tasty and enjoyable.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a medium to dark slightly brownish orange with quarter finger off-white head with good retention and nice lacing. Aroma of caramel malt, toffee, raisins, bourbon and light oaky vanilla. Flavor follows, with caramel malt, toffee, bourbon, raisins, woody oak and vanilla. Medium bodied with moderate creaminess and nice mouth feel. A fine English style barleywine. From the description, I expected a more subtle, somewhat sweeter interpretation and it is to a certain degree; however the sweetness is modest. The taste intensity fades a bit in mid-taste, then builds and lingers for a long time, developing more of the oak and vanilla character. A gentler, but somehow still full flavored and well balanced barreled barleywine from this fine brewery.

A 10 ounce draft pour into a tulip glass from a tap house.

Look- Ruby brown, opaque, light brown frothy head, average head retention and lacing.

Smell- Bourbon, oak, toffee, slight tobacco, medium strength of scent.

Taste- Bourbon, toffee, oak, medium strength of flavor.

Feel- Medium body, average carbonation, mildly creamy, highly boozy, moderately mouth warming, mildly mouth coating.

Overall- The bouquet and flavor were not as intense or complex as other Barleywines I’ve had from Fremont, but still a very enjoyable beer.

This is a beautiful copper cooor with an ample head for a BA beer. Smells of sweet malt, honey and caramel as it warms. Taste is delightful. Definitely sweet but notes of salted caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, and smooth bourbon. This is squarely in the English barleywine category. An excellent example of the style. Tip o the cap to the brewers at Fremont.

 

On tap at Beerworks in Medford. Poured a golden hue with a small, white head of foam. It left sudsy lacing on the glass. It smelled of vanilla, oak, bourbon and honey. Sweet honey and toffee taste with vanilla and bourbon notes.

Dark amber to red, a bit fuzzy or foggy, with a thin off-white head.

Instantly numbing yet somehow not stinging, it's very much like salted caramel with a touch of banana rum.

Look - golden amber nice white head and riming
Smell - so much malts and caramel
Taste - boozy caramel malts and barrel
Feel - full body fizz
Overall - great beer

Sampling a cellar temp 22 oz bottle poured into my snifter. The beer pours a bright clear golden color and rests in my glass a rich copper hue. Soft creamy khaki colored head of about 2.5 cm foams up and fades to a sturdy surface covering. This foam sticks around through my entire sampling.
The aroma on this beer is malts and spicy booze. I get red grape and plums with a good amount of black peppery spicy booze note and some hints of bourbon and a little toffee. Pretty complex nose, that doesnt hide the booziness of this treat.
First sip reveals a medium body, with very smooth texture and fine tingly carbonation. The beer drinks much easier than I thought it would. Not really too sticky or syrupy like big barleywines can be. Flavor is a complex and very fruity to my palate. I get grapes , plums and some pear here. A good bit of bourbon comes in , but its not very sweet and does carry a little toffee as well. Some boozy flavor comes in on the finish, but there isnt any accompanying warming notes. I dont believe there is any hop character showing up on this beer. Its a tasty treat that drinks easier than it should. Glad to have tried this tasty barleywine.

 

22 ounce bottle into a snifter. A 2022 release, had 9/8/23.

Pours a lighter copper orange color, mostly clear, with a half inch foamy head and light foamy cling. Aromas of caramel, malt, oak, vanilla, some bourbon and honey. Has a fruity aroma. Flavors of bourbon, caramel, oak, vanilla, malt, some honey, light leather. Smooth, a very good medium body, appropriately carbonated.

Focused but delicious. The barrels and the vanilla and oak from them stand out, as well as the caramel notes. A solid effort.

22 oz. Bomber
Silver Wax/Capped
Limited 2022 Release

Poured into a Westy glass a very nice translucent golden amber/copper color, very nice carbonation, with a very nice one-finger/creamy/fizzy tan head, which leaves a very nice medium size island, and some minimal sticky lacing behind. The nose is very nice, malty, hoppy, with a very nice dark fruit complex (cherries, figs, raisins, plums, dates, grapes), toffee, vanilla, oak, bourbon, licorice. The taste is very nice, malty, hoppy, with a very nice dark fruit complex (cherries, figs, raisins, plums, dates, grapes), toffee, very nice vanilla sweetness, very nice bourbon/oaky, licorice. Full Body, ABV hidden very nicely, a very complex brew, a very nice sipper. Overall, this is a big beer, very tasty.

 

Bottle. White head. Burnt caramel orange color.

This is excellent. Amazing oak and vanilla, toffee, caramel, butterscotch, and bourbon. Warming, but smooth. Raisins and figs. A very unique take on their bw and I’m a big fan.