Fancy Pants
Bentley Brewing Company / Dark Horse Tavern

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really liked this beer. Wasn't sure what to expect at first, but upon first sip I immediately loved it. Glad I have another 2 bottles to drink. Agreed with another rating that there isn't much hop or barleywine flavor here, it is an extremely drinkable sour barrel aged beer. Especially for being 11%! Very happy with this beer and this brewery. The seem to have started hitting their stride now that they've been open for about a year. Seek out the Rye Pale Ale!

Very sour, I think there's more going on than just Brett, which I only picked up on a little bit.

I don't understand this being called a Barleywine. Thin body, not hoppy, not rich and sweet. The sour drowns out everything, even the barrel. I'd call it an Imperial Flanders Red.

I actually liked it quite a bit, just don't expect anything resembling a Barleywine.

Fellas at the market said this was most interesting beer they'd had in a while. I can see their point.

Batch #1 shared by Emma, thanks Emma. New MA brewery, and a sour whiskey-aged barleywine at that, intriguing.

A - Dark red and somewhat murky pour with a beige head. A partial cap and some lace left by the end.

S - Kinda like expected from the description above, weird but intriguing. Dirty whiskey and toasted oak barrel, tart light and dark fruits, brown sugar, toffee, roasted malt and some vanilla.

T - Big buttery oak and toffee, whiskey sour mix drink, earthy tart fruits, dark caramel malts with some chocolatey tones. I sometimes get weird off-ish herbally flavors, but doesn't really deter much.

M - Good body but definitely not as viscous as your average barleywine, well-carbonated, surprisingly quite smooth for 11%. Pretty decent balance of flavors, though altogether they clash a bit.

O - Definitely not something you see everyday (or ever), it's a weird combo of flavors so it's hard to say if there's really something 'off' going on in there or not. Either way, a pretty nice effort all things considered, the whiskey sour element especially adds alot. Extra points for originality.

Thanks Emma for sharing this beer. Never really heard of Bentley brewing but I am now happy to know there is a brewery in Southbridge formulating some interesting beers. A sour barrel-aged Barleywine; nice.

A- Deep red body to a tulip with a foamy off white cap. The head ends at just under a finger with a frothy look. Decent retention to a large ring and plenty of lace spots.

S- Rounded out whiskey barrels and tart fruits. Some medium toast malts and caramel but to me the barrel defines with some sweet vanillas.

T- Tart and almost sour fruits and lactic acid drive the flavor. Cherry, raisins, lemon juice, pepper spice, vanilla, medium caramel and sour patch kids. Medium toasted oak.

MF- Light overall body probably due to the wild bugs eating any sugars. Medium carbonation level leading to a high level of tartness in the end.

Big sour fruits and a smooth woody barrel. Certainly reminds you of some kind of classic mixed drink. Glad to see this kind of experiment out of Southbridge and I will certainly be buying Bentley when I can from now on.