Intrinsic Duality No. 2
Pipeworks Brewing Co.

16 ounce can into a snifter. Canned 4/13/21, had 1/21/22.

Pours a copper amber, mostly clear, with no real head or cling. Aromas of bourbon, figs, malt, oak, dates, light leather, faint candied cherries. Similar flavors- bourbon, oak, malt, dates, some figs, some leather, light candied cherries as it warms. Smooth, a very good medium body, appropriately carbonated on the low side.

Very enjoyable. The barrels are excellent, it smells great and it tastes great. Not as hearty and full as it could be, but it’s pretty good.

RFO2021 0415

16oz can
PKG 04/13/21
L: brown body, very thin tan head disappears immediately
S: toasted grain, caramel, bourbon, oak, vanilla, brown sugar
T: boozy bourbon, oak, vanilla, brown sugar, caramelized grain, tobacco leaf, cinnamon, nutmeg, cream soda- just loads of complexity
F: fuller body, lower carbonation, boozy finish
O: I wouldn’t expect this sitting on the shelf for a year to affect carbonation, but it was definitely on the flat side; otherwise great beer!

Canned 4/13/21. Opened on 5/3/22. English Barleywine aged in Weller bourbon barrels for 36 months.

Pours an opaque dark brown color. Good amount of sediment in the beer. Produced a half finger khaki head that went away immediately.

Aroma is crème brulee, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, raisin, fig, prune, apple pie filling, some cinnamon, some nutmeg, some tobacco, charred oak, bourbon spirit, vanilla. The barrel seems to be well-integrated into the base beer. Smells big, but not overly boozy.

Taste is big caramel, crème brulee, toffee, Raisinet, fig, apple strudel, brown sugar, brown bread, big charred oak tannin, bourbon spirit, some cinnamon and nutmeg, some vanilla, leather. The extended aging tempers the sweetness of the beer and adds a nice depth of charred oak and bourbon spice. Just like the aroma leads on, the barrel and base beer are well-integrated.

Medium body. Low to moderate level of carbonation, which is expected for the style. Slick, viscous, sticky, chalky. Not as boozy as you would expect.

This is an excellent BA English Barleywine. The extended aging in Weller barrels adds a wonderful depth of complexity to an already solid base beer. I'm sure that the year of aging in the can also helped smooth this out a bit too. Before this one was released, it had been quite some time since Pipeworks had released a barrel aged beer. This one reminds me of the quality their barrel program was once at. Hope they release more barrel aged beers in the near future.

Loved the first in the series, but this was even better imho. Big barrel oozing toasted caramel, toffee brown sugar, and big dark fruit with moderate barley and light vanilla in the taste. Nose more barrel centric but otherwise similar. Feel is rich, warm, full bodied, just something to sip slowly on a cold night. The wife loved it

 

 

 

 

 

16oz tallboy poured into Tyranena tulip glass.

canned on 4/13/21.

Appearance: Dark brown bodied beer with deep mahogany red hue. Thick cap of Khaki colored head that drops down to a ring around the glass fairly fast. Apparent booze legs with each sip.

Smell: Brown sugar, rich & lightly spicy bourbon, dry earthy oak.

Taste: This starts out fairly sweet the first few sips, but mellows out as you go. Brown sugar is huge and the prominent rich sweet flavor that is coming through. Maple is another strong strong sweet flavor that hits your taste buds early, but not as strong as the brown sugar. Lots of spices including: cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg; even the bourbon has a light "spice" note. Hints of leather and dry oak. Hints of apple streusel and oatmeal. In the finish, lots of caramel, toffee, and crème brûlée / vanilla ice cream notes that aren't too overly sweet, but definitely very rich and are woven together quite well. Really like the flavors in the finish of this beer the most. Great depth and complexity.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied barleywine. lower carbonation levels that are at an adequate amount for this beer. Pretty darn smooth sipper here. Not much booze burn or even that warming sensation to denote that this is a big beer. Thinner body than expected and it has a sticky sweet texture that thickens the body up a bit. The beer tastes like it should have a very syrupy viscosity, but it doesn't and I think it is a good thing here. Another attribute of this barleywine is that it is not cloying sweet; just the right amount of sweetness here.

Overall: A Barleywine aged 36 months in Weller barrels! I had to give this a try at less than ten bucks for 500ml that's pretty easy to pull the trigger on; at least once for science. At the time of purchase a few weeks ago, I was hoping that this is a sign that the Pipeworks barrel program is back... this beer is definitely is a strong contender to prove this to me.

All that said, my final verdict is that this is really good barrel aged barleywine. I immediately want to put this up against Revolution VSOJ as that is one of the best examples of extended aging of a barrel aged barleywine locally and even nationally. I think that VSOJ closes the deal over Pipeworks Intrinsic Duality #2, but not much is able to contend with VSOJ in its own niche category (extended aged bourbon barrel aged barleywine).

Straight out of the fridge this beer is just okay, but man does it really open up nicely after sitting around for more than 30 minutes. This beer is not as barrel forward as I was expecting, but still is a rather tasty barrel aged barleywine. The spicy notes of this beer really balances the sweetness and keeps it from being cloying for sure. The drinkability is up there as well for a high abv beer.

Pours a dark ruby-tinged brown color. Completely opaque and somewhat viscous.Thin, weak off-white head forms on the beer before dissipating. No residual head.

Aroma has strong notes of bourbon, dark fruits - prunes, figs, raisin and port wine. There are also sweeter notes of vanilla, crème brûlée that give way to some cinnamon and brown sugar on the back end. The aroma has got a lot going on with it varying between leaning towards the dark fruit and port wine notes before swinging back to the sweeter side with the vanilla and crème brûlée notes.

Taste follows the nose with notes of brown sugar, panela, toffee, crème brûlée, vanilla, oak, with lighter dark fruit notes and some port wine. The bourbon is well integrated into the flavor profile contributing oak, bourbon and vanilla notes, but is most noticeable is the low heat that permeates the profile. Sweet, but not cloying.

Feel is medium bodied, viscous and smooth. Moderate carbonation is perfect for this beer.

Overall this is an outrageously delicious barrel aged barleywine from Pipeworks. Complex and rich - this is a beer to sip by the fire on a cold evening and treasure.

Canned 4/13/21; drank 12/19/21 @ the Yarchives.

Opaque dark brown appearance.

A rough pour yielded a nice, noisy khaki head which quickly dissipated; no lace.

Cream soda, oak & bourbon notes in the nose.

Medium thick, sticky mouthfeel.

Cream soda, oak, bourbon & faint crème brulee flavors.

Simple but effective; I liked this one!

Poursa reddish brown, small khaki head that's gone in a flash. Nose gets some burnt sugar, toffee, taste bud's get toffee, dark fruit and a bit of alcohol burn. Thicker than a normal Barleywine, minimal carbonation. This is excellent!

Pour from the pint can is lightly carbonated and deep copper. Aroma is muted but English in character, candy sweet, malty and breaded. The flavor profile has caramel, cherry cordial, marzipan, and white grape. A bit cloying in its sweetness, not as thick or as much barrel character as expected for the three years spent in barrels.