M.V.G.S. - Bourbon Barrel Aged
Lagunitas Brewing Company

a special version of the seattle locations kviek barleywine, done in woodinville whiskey barrels, and its delicious, quite a bit stronger too, these barrels must have been fresh, and this had held up well in the bottle, never mind a kiss of oxidation in a barleywine, and thats all that is here. a little richer color, more viscosity, but still pretty good carbonation on this. some yeast spiciness in the nose, some obvious vanilla and raisin from the whiskey, more sweet than the no barrel original, but the extra sugar adds complexity too, tobacco and cherry, wet wood and soil, nicely grounded, slightly peppery to me too, a sherry note, lots of bready grain at the core, and the flavor is right there with the nose, boozy yes, but layered well, hints of maple, dried berry, and toffee, fuller but not sticking to my teeth, and overall it seems like the barrel is real well integrated without taking over, obvious as it is, like the uniqueness of the base beer, especially the ferment, is still fully on display. a light anise note with the wood as it warms, honey sweetness, hot alcohol, a little papery at the end. really neat take on barleywine, cool showcase of this barrel, and something unlike all the others in this somehow now samey style space. one of the more original barleywines i can recall ever having. the port wine version of this was my favorite, but this bourbon one is fire too. too bad the seattle brewery didnt survive, they killed it there!