The Harbinger
Reaver Beach Brewing Company

 

A buddy of mine picked up a deuce at the release of this brew.
Appearance: upon opening there appears to be no carbonation to the brew. After pouring in my glass I can confirm little to no carbonation. No head at all and no lacing. Pours a nice deep copper amberish color.
Taste: smells of deep bourbon and oak and a slight caramelized flavor. First taste is a blast of oak and bourbon that warms that palette. Nice caramel and Vanilla flavors, but predominantly bourbon and oak. You can tell its boozy.
Mouth feel: as with previous reviews, its very thin. Almost no body.
Overall a decent beer. I would drink again, but wouldnt buy it.

 

Brewfest keg:
Pours opaque with a little depth, barely hazy with a shallow pour. Head is ok, spotty on the surface post pour. Smell is almost completely bourbon barrel. The lack of any other smell left me debating 3.74 or 4, but the lovely nature of the nose made my decision.

Taste is a subdued light cracker grain or soda cracker beginning that doesn't last long but is enhanced by the oncoming bourbon. Carbonation does add to the experience, adding an almost ginger ale-like taste for a brief second. The bourbon and barrel wood takes the rest if the taste over. The front tastes are a bit weak, the ending wood-endured drying.

A little more depth and/or complexity would jump this beer a notch. Overall it's I might have slightly overrated it as a beer, but as a bourbon hybrid, it's decent.

Appearance: Very hazy murky light brown. It is tea-like in appearance. I was a bit worried when I uncapped the bottle and it barely gave a hiss, but this has absolutely no head on it whatsoever. Not even when pouring.

Aroma: I pick up a clear aroma of oak. Nothing else comes through. I don't smell any alcohol which is a good accomplishment for a 13% ABV beer.

Taste: It tastes as if Aboslute were to release an oak flavored vodka. It has a strong bitter flavor in the background, then tons of alcohol, and loads of wood flavor. It's overpowering with this charcoal bitterness and wood flavor. The bitterness does not mesh with the beer at all, and it lacks real flavor complexity. Not at all appealing. I gave it higher than a 1 because at least there is some semi-pleasant wood flavor, but really it doesn't taste good as a whole.

Mouthfeel: It's thin and watery. The complete lack of carbonation probably doesn't help much. It's completely flat.

Overall: I'm hoping that my bottle was the only one that wasn't carbonated. I would not recommend this beer based on this experience. I considered aging the beer...now I am eternally grateful that I did not waste the shelf space cellaring this.

This review is based off of bottle, not draft at the 4th anniversary party.
Copper body, minimal head, boozy, woody aroma that gives off a little dark fruit vibe with plum/figs (raisins?) and a little sugary sweetness.
The sugars come out more in, compared to other such high ABV beers and/or strong ales, a light to medium body as this is not a thick, sticky sipper.
The sugars do give off a vanilla sweetness and I'll go with coconut since it's on label as well, and the barrels give off a great woody/oaky smoothness.
Only knocks on this beer is it rather a few notes/not complex and at times the alcohol overpowered everything else.
Not a bad bourbon barrel strong ale at all and worth trying (in this case if you bought a bottle but haven't had it yet) and having after a large meal as a sipper.