La Trinidad El Fernando
Brewfist

330 ml bottle, best before date of 30.12.28 printed on the label, 14.1% ABV listed. Served in a chalice, the beer pours a somewhat murky copper color with a small light tan head that didn't stick around long but left a small ring of bubbles around the glass. Not much lacing. The brew smells mostly like red grapes, along with some oak, cherry, vanilla and some earthiness. Taste is similar to the aroma, but with the addition of some Port and brown sugar flavors. I think the grape/Port/dark fruity flavors stand out to me compared to the others. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's coating and a bit rich with a low/moderate amount of carbonation. Thought this was a good overall brew, certainly worth a try if you get the chance.

33cL bottle with a best before date of 2023-12-30, from Churchkey in Washington, DC. Barleywine fermented with saison yeast and aged one year in port barrels. Pour is fairly flat, strong grape tannins and port character on the nose and palate. Minimal complexity. It's a port bomb, which I might ordinarily enjoy if I got more of the base beer to counterbalance. However, this is pretty sweet, very grape forward, without a lot else going on.

Not quite what I expected...

This barleywine was certainly memorable in certain aspect - boozy as all heck, very flavorful, and a very smooth mouthfeel. The look wasn't so memorable, nor the smell, but it was very tasty and about as boozy as the booziest beer I have every had. A great way to start the 2023 Holiday Season of Drinking...

This is an interesting and very good barleywine that falls just short of world class for me. Lots going and tons of complexity. It’s murky and muddy without any head or lace so it’s not the prettiest example of the style. There’s a persistent bitter note which becomes prominent in the finish and detracts a bit from the overall experience. That’s where the negatives end. On the positive side is a hugely flavorful beer with dark fruit (raisin and prune), vinous and almost tannic qualities, wood, chocolate, oxidization, brown sugar, cherries. Barrel aging has contributed beautifully and exerted the aged tawny port influence strongly. The aroma is almost as complex. As I work my way through the bottle and it comes up to temp a bit the cherry flavor (and especially) the aroma becomes very prominent.

Body is on the fuller side and carbonation is low - just barely there but appropriate for beer and adds to the sense of heft. Good stuff, better than the PX barrel aged in my opinion.