Lower Class Barleywine | Burley Oak Brewery
Brewed by:
Burley Oak Brewery
Maryland, United States | website
Style: English Barleywine
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 11.00%
Availability: Limited (brewed once)
Notes / Commercial Description:
Aged in whiskey barrels.
Added by lackenhauser on 12-23-2012
This beer is retired; no longer brewed.
View: Beers | Place Reviews | Events
Reviews: 5 | Ratings: 28
3.35/5 rDev -5.1%
Poured into a Due South Brewing Co. glass. No freshness date.
A- Pours a murky medium brown color with a 1/8 inch light tan head that immediately dissipates to a paper-thin ring around the edge of the glass and a few spots of surface foam. Minimal lacing.
S- Boozy right off the bat with some toasty malt coming through. Slightly sweet with some dark fruit notes but mostly just alcohol.
T- Semisweet with some notes of brown sugar, caramel and raisin although I'm giving it too many points for complexity since the booze is really the key player here making it difficult to enjoy the other tastes going on.
M- Dry and sharp with medium-low carbonation and a body leaning toward the fuller side.
O- They gave it the old high school try with this barleywine, but it comes up short due to the overbearing heat coming from the high alcohol presence. I know this particular bottle was aged at least 9 months as well.
★ 923 characters
Poured into a Due South Brewing Co. glass. No freshness date.
A- Pours a murky medium brown color with a 1/8 inch light tan head that immediately dissipates to a paper-thin ring around the edge of the glass and a few spots of surface foam. Minimal lacing.
S- Boozy right off the bat with some toasty malt coming through. Slightly sweet with some dark fruit notes but mostly just alcohol.
T- Semisweet with some notes of brown sugar, caramel and raisin although I'm giving it too many points for complexity since the booze is really the key player here making it difficult to enjoy the other tastes going on.
M- Dry and sharp with medium-low carbonation and a body leaning toward the fuller side.
O- They gave it the old high school try with this barleywine, but it comes up short due to the overbearing heat coming from the high alcohol presence. I know this particular bottle was aged at least 9 months as well.
★ 923 characters
3.68/5 rDev +4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75
750ml bottle numbered 168 of 777. Poured into a snifter, the brew appears a mahogany color with a tan cap that holds strong. As it fades, stringy lace sticks to the glass.
The aroma contains fruity alcohol with a hint of citrus and bourbon. Plenty of that raisony character is also present. Overall a clean and simple set of aromatics that showcases a bit of the spirit moreso than the barrel it was aged in.
The taste is fruity with raisony notes overtop a solid whiskey flavor. It displays a mild musty malt profile along with plenty of residual booziness and a slight citrus indication of hops.
This is a medium to lighter bodied brew with a moderate amount of carbonation. I appreciate the opportunity to try this but I dont see it as something I would want to shell out money to have again.
★ 798 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75
750ml bottle numbered 168 of 777. Poured into a snifter, the brew appears a mahogany color with a tan cap that holds strong. As it fades, stringy lace sticks to the glass.
The aroma contains fruity alcohol with a hint of citrus and bourbon. Plenty of that raisony character is also present. Overall a clean and simple set of aromatics that showcases a bit of the spirit moreso than the barrel it was aged in.
The taste is fruity with raisony notes overtop a solid whiskey flavor. It displays a mild musty malt profile along with plenty of residual booziness and a slight citrus indication of hops.
This is a medium to lighter bodied brew with a moderate amount of carbonation. I appreciate the opportunity to try this but I dont see it as something I would want to shell out money to have again.
★ 798 characters
3.62/5 rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Poured from the bottle into a tasting snifter.
The nose is dominated by the oak and sweet caramel malt. There is a good amount of alcohol burn in each sip. The burn intensifies towards the finish. I would have liked the sweet flavors to contribute more and balance out the aggressive bourbon and oak notes. There is a whole lot of wood in this beer.
★ 350 characters
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Poured from the bottle into a tasting snifter.
The nose is dominated by the oak and sweet caramel malt. There is a good amount of alcohol burn in each sip. The burn intensifies towards the finish. I would have liked the sweet flavors to contribute more and balance out the aggressive bourbon and oak notes. There is a whole lot of wood in this beer.
★ 350 characters
3.62/5 rDev +2.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
The 2nd bottle release (I think) from Burley Oak. Lower Class Barleywine-celebrating not only being burley and local but the local band from Berlin Lower Class Citizens. Limited bottling bottle 128 of 777. Breaking out my DFH snifter for this puppy.
Dark chestnut brown though very murky. Definate carbonation though appears somewhat flat in the glass. Somewhat strong oak aroma with a pleasant backing of cinnamon. Very strong oak and whiskey flavors. Heavy malt but the oak keeps coming in too strong. Nice WOODY flavor outside of the oak. Not a trace of booze in here which for whatever reason I was worried about. Pleasant lingering whiskey flavors. Nice mouthfeel-goes down way too easy. Another nice effort from Burley Oak. I have another bottle to enjoy in a year or more. Once the oak fades this should be a very nice brew.
★ 834 characters
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
The 2nd bottle release (I think) from Burley Oak. Lower Class Barleywine-celebrating not only being burley and local but the local band from Berlin Lower Class Citizens. Limited bottling bottle 128 of 777. Breaking out my DFH snifter for this puppy.
Dark chestnut brown though very murky. Definate carbonation though appears somewhat flat in the glass. Somewhat strong oak aroma with a pleasant backing of cinnamon. Very strong oak and whiskey flavors. Heavy malt but the oak keeps coming in too strong. Nice WOODY flavor outside of the oak. Not a trace of booze in here which for whatever reason I was worried about. Pleasant lingering whiskey flavors. Nice mouthfeel-goes down way too easy. Another nice effort from Burley Oak. I have another bottle to enjoy in a year or more. Once the oak fades this should be a very nice brew.
★ 834 characters
Lower Class Barleywine from Burley Oak Brewery
3.53
out of 5
based on 28 ratings.
Got this in a trade after it had been cellared for a good period. Smells strongly of raspberry sweetness when I popped it open. Well that really does just lend towards a sweet wine with some raisin in there as well. Theres some malt backbone at the end but really over powering sweetness and alcohol tastes. Good, but not great. I would have loved to have had a fresh bottle to compare it to. Very dry. Super boozy, which over powers much else...
★ 446 characters