Barrel Aged Murderous
Pipeworks Brewing Co.

Wow, this one has at least 8 years on it and it has held up splendidly.Bottle 270/271.
Pours deep brown in color and forms a sandy head that rises shyly and settles into a form ring. Decent retention and slight ring.
The nose is complex. Some bourbon candy notes in the onset, quickly followed by a warm deliver of toffee, caramel, prune, and a mild fruity note along the line of stewed apple. Some brown sugar comes through but with a mild hand.
Flavor follows the nose with a just sweet enough delivery that makes way for some warm, slightly oaky, barrel notes.
Mouthfeel is spot on for style and the boozy warmth is subtle and comforting.
Nice!

10/26/24 - (Can - Home) (Chicago, IL) Can Notes: Purchased a single can for $11.01 with tax on August 23, 2024 at the Pipeworks Dojo, refrigerated at home until this afternoon. 16 oz can without a date stamped released earlier in the year, likely Winter. 14.3% ABV. Barleywine Style Ale laid to rest in Four Year Heaven Hill Bourbon Barrels.. Label Art by Beejay Olson. 2024 Pipeworks Brewing Company. Brewed and Canned in Chicago, Illinois.

Appearance: Still dark brown to black coloured pour, nominal carbonation seen and faint white bubbles linger around a portion of the rim. Not very appealing. 3.25

Aroma: After letting warm for 20 minutes, getting a very sweet base, raisins, plums, brown sugar, and a sweet bourbon aroma. Sweetness intimidating, at least for my preferences. 3.5

Taste: Similar to the aroma, though more bourbon flavor, the strength of which helps balance the sweet malt base which is more palatable than the aroma leads. Enjoying after aroma brought on hesitation. 4.0

Mouthfeel: Faint slightly prickly carbonation and a creamy medium to full body. Strong from go, ABV packs a punch. Bourbon and sweet malt and dark fruits the primary taste sensation through the finish. 3.75

Overall: This beer is as advertised. The four years and bourbon is very strong. Enjoyed after the aroma scared me off a bit. Intimidating at 16 oz, likely would only go draft only or split a can, as this is too strong and much for me at this stage of my drinking career. 4.0 Still glad I picked up. 4.0

Barrel Aged Murderous – from Pipeworks. 16 fl oz can purchased from Half Time, Mamaroneck, NY, 17/05/24, $ 19.42 (Including shipping and tax), $ 1.21/fl oz. Reviewed 09/06/24 (Review 3292). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Undated can but the label is consistent with the 2024 release. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Served at 53.7 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 60.0 degrees F.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Medium Amber (SRM 12), hazy.
Body – Brown (SRM 20), opaque. Under direct light, milk chocolate brown and opaque. When rear-lite, same, but red at the edges.
Head – Tiny (Maximum 0.4 cm, aggressive center pour), fawn, medium density, and fizzy, short retention, leaving a 0.1 – 0.3 cm ring being aggressively fed by carbonation; no cap, just a continual slow upswelling of tiny bubbles.
Lacing – None; as expected at 14.3% ABV.
Aroma – 3.5 – Sweet dark fruit with bourbon. No yeast, no hops, no roasted malt, no alcohol (14.3 % ABV as marked on label).
Flavor – 4.5 – Markedly sweet with dates and slight bourbon. No yeast, no hops, no malt, no alcohol. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Gastric burning.
Palate – 4 – Medium; slightly syrupy; soft carbonation.
Final Impression and summation: 4 Not dinging the score for an undated can – style is consistent with batch #2 – beer geeks know, and beer non-geeks won’t pay the price. Decent barleywine with weak barrels versus strong dark fruitiness. Seems a bit aged to have so much burn although the burn is more mellow at the end temperature.

 

 

 

 

mollasses fenugreek infection? elijah craig. alexs bottle. big malt.some raisin grape.

 

 

Poursa murky chocolate brown. Smell is strong bourbon with toasted toffee, molasses, barley, dark fruits and graham cracker. For the taste, take all of the smell elements and make them darker and deep, the fig, molasses, and wood especially. Very smooth and syrupy. Has decent thickness but not heavy in feel, almost has some wheatiness.

2024 release: someone at Heaven Hill is getting fired because they left too much booze in those barrels. Straight up booze, not much barrel. Leather. Tobacco. A little thin and dissipating fizzy. But still an in your face, shy on subtleties, English Barleywine with definite lineage to prior release. Overall, it's a good trip down memory lane but a bit of an underachiever.

 

Pours a merlot tinged brown color. Thin weak tan head dissipates steadily leaving no residual head. Appears thick and viscous in the glass.

Aroma has notes of dark fruits, tart ripe cherries, red wine, bourbon and oak. A bit more tart cherries or dark fruits on the nose than I expected - not bad, just different.

Taste follows the nose with notes of dark fruits, tart overly ripe cherries, leather, bourbon, oak and some red wine and tannins. As noted on the nose, the dark fruits and tart cherries come out far more pronounced in the flavor profile. The bourbon and oak come out more as the beer warms, but are always a second fiddle to the fruitier notes. There is a spiciness - a bit of rye and pepper especially once the beer warms. Very nice compliment to the favors.

Feel is thick and viscous. Full bodied. Moderate vibrant carbonation. Pretty dry finish.

Overall this is a very nice BA barleywine and a must try for anyone who likes the style.

 

 

 

Released 8/17/18; drank 8/19/18 @ the Yarchives.

Opaque dark brown appearance.

A rough pour yielded a small khaki head; minimal lace.

Leather, caramel, bourbon heat & oak notes in the nose.

Thick, sticky mouthfeel.

Caramel, sherry & leather flavors up front; flat bourbon & oak notes on the finish.

All English, for sure...this fresh it's a bit much (boozy & a bit sweet). I think I'll wait a while for the next one...