Aaron (Double Barrel)
Hill Farmstead Brewery

 

 

 

Bottled 2020. 2 yrs in bourbon and 3 in ruby port. Wow.

Caramel brown color. Light tan head.

Incredibly smooth and warming. Caramel, toffee, fig, raisins, cocoa. Port shows a lot, but in a nice balanced way. Bourbon is actually a bit more subdued but adds the warming flavor and a lot of nice oak. Brown sugar mixed in. Almost like a nicely baked cookie. Touch of vanilla. This has it all.

Well done and no adjuncts. This is a winner.

 

Very smooth. Dark fruit. Low burn. Wow. This is just an amazing brew.

 

 

 

Bottle pour at the source. The most expensive beer I've had to date by far, $30 for a 3.4oz pour. Very little to complain about here -- ticks all of the boxes of a well crafted barleywine as well as lots of expressive barrel character (especially port). In terms of price:quality ratio, though, this doesn't go above and beyond, hence my somewhat reduced overall. Once again, my hat goes off to Shaun and the other folks at HF for their commitment to patient, unhurried brewing

89/100

 

A: Pour has stretched shades from tyrian purple to english violet, as kobicha flakily highlights. The neckline has incipient – ghostwhite – tones, which vitally rim with a thistle to pale purple pattern. Categorically, craptastic retention that’s characteristically opportune, among the abated spaces to eventually null in the more arid states. On those grounds, lace is unsung in steadiness and nameless in convulsion, but tears can be seen in potential advances. That piece is drawn from some heat, as climate incentivizes the trailing carve to the nearly opaque frame

S: An apparatus that casually shrouds bourbon, for the more overt presence on ruby port with an enriched malt depth, as hops facilitate a poise. The minutes are exercised by dark fruits, and proclaimed by a tannin undertone that pillars tractable esters. Namely, a setting on prunes, figs, and raisins amongst silan syrup, while touching upon vanilla tank staves. Malt contextualizes a bready path with wood bearing refurbishments, as caramel coats nuts afore chocolate cordials. The movement is contained by a timbered nature that’s succumbed by the hides of buffalo. At this point, a protracted whiff set to pine and resin that has a terrestrial mounting on horse mane, while connoting black treacle riders. The port qualities assume a late responsibility to dried porcini aside Morositas, as berries attain a floral muskiness

T: Acetates are assorted in varying latitudes, which facilitate a woodsy hop effect in a snowballing manner. The palate is in consilience with interior dark fruits, while phenolic metabolites intellectualize the curriculum. An experience that’s akin to an autumn jog in a sylvan terrain, as leaves fall to the ground amongst acorns & puddled sap. Uninterruptedly, thick cow leather leads a parched progression with Luxardo cherries, while cask participation gains in momentum. With this in mind, ruby port connotes a plum to Choco Chew foyer amongst a solvent cue, for an Acetone makeup in paint remover. Yet, appropriated in a way to stimulate the syllabus, as opposed to suffocating the group. The solvency – therefore – adds to the oxidative complexion, while malt accentuates a scorched nuttiness with waning dough accents & withered dark fruits. Step by step, a viscosity awareness to the heated alertness, where barrels pursue a tannin ambition, as hops pursue a terrestrial (corollary) mannerism

M: The feel has an edifice range, from sweet to dry, and a docile ebullition that’s easily aired. A lusciously thin texture with a warming smoothness to preempt the incipience, while overseeing a leathery clause on wood-bearing tannins to echo the unremitting accomplishments

O: A decisive depiction that encapsulates the barrels with the workings of malt, which platforms a path of concentrated risks. The method is coordinated to justify “a representation of harmony, refinement, and complexity”

Amazing barley wine - best in class

 

 

 

 

 

Bottle pour at Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, VT.

This one pours a dark golden brown, with a very small head, and not much lacing.

This smells like caramel, port, black cherry, tobacco, oak, chocolate, toffee, prune, brown sugar, and bourbon.

This is undeniably a step up from what you typically expect out of Aaron. It's better than the recent Aaron Bourbon/Cognac, probably because that was a blend and that this particular batch was consecutively aged in bourbon and port barrels. There's a very deep port flavor here, like I sort of get like a caramel pecan fruit jam sort of flavor, with dry vanila, oak, a touch of leathery bourbon, dried cherry, toffee, brown sugar, old dusty tobacco, and molasses.

This is medium bodied, with very little booziness, with a smooth oaky and silky finish.

The price on this is pretty rough, but it's undeniable how high quality it is.

Bottle pour at Hill Farmstead. This beer has the complexity of a fine old port, just insanely great. Great way to cap off my visit.