Barrel Aged Barleywine
Three Heads Brewing

thanks to my buddy for the hookup on this one, been in the fridge a hot minute, busted it out as a possibly unneeded nightcap, but ive been known to do that from time to time. its a neat beer, aged in a local whiskey barrels from some place called iron smoke. the brew is lightly hazed over, deep brick red amber color, almost no head at all after a minute in the glass, but the occasional bubbles rises up as it sits. not as leggy and viscous as some of these, which i dont mind, but i do smell all of its abv, hot for sure, some almost spiciness to it too from this whiskey and the wood, plenty of both in the mix, along with raisin and toffee and brown sugar richness, a bready malty vibe, and a not totally neutral yeast aspect too which i like in these, english. the flavor to me is just slightly disjointed, some oxidation, some up front sweetness that intense, the hot alcohol late, but in the middle a sort of papery thing, a dusty spiciness thats odd, and curiously a kind of fake maple character, like gross diner syrup. it has flashes of excellence, i like the yeast, i like the texture, and this whiskey is intriguing to me, imparts a lot of character, but im also not in love with the overall experience, it hands long and intense and sugary on the palate, and i think is maybe a step less refined than the best of these, even though its still cool. some around our table liked it better than others, certainly robust. a little more ambitious than most other three heads beers i have encountered over the years...

Bottle purchased at Iron Smoke in Fairport, NY.

This one pours a medium amber brown-ish color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This smells like vanilla, oak, and caramel.

This isn’t a top tier barleywine by any means, but it’s significantly better than most beers that Three Heads makes at this point. There’s a nice little kiss of vanilla and oak – not much overt bourbon character, which is nice, as Iron Smoke barrels, and the whiskey itself, can be kinda harsh. There’s some caramel, and it all comes together nicely with very little booziness.

This is a little bit thin for the style, but decently drinkable.

Three Heads is far from my favorite local brewery, but this really wasn’t that bad.

Pours a dark brownish copper with a thin head. The nose is nicely malty but the barrel notes are lacking. The flavor also has a solid maltiness with hints of whiskey. The body is a tad thin for the style.

Honestly, if I wasn't told this was barrel aged, I'd have thought that this was simply a decent high ABV barleywine.