Treehouse In the City (2023)
Urban Family Brewing Co.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a dark brownish orange with a fine, two finger, light khaki head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of dry caramel and biscuit malt, dried plums, raisins, Port, whiskey and a hint of smoke. Flavor of dry caramel malt, toffee, raisins, dried plums, Madeira, woody oak and faint smoke. Medium bodied with moderate creaminess. A woody English style barleywine with evidence of the whiskey and Madeira barrels, but lighter notes of rum (mostly dark fruit which could also be the malt) and Scotch; the latter fairly faint. A somewhat astringent barrel woodiness with little oak vanilla character. A bit busy in flavors and fairly woody, but overall a satisfying barleywine. Looks and mouthfeel are great. Would have scored another quarter in flavor if not for the rough edges. I'll be checking out this series of barleywine every year. I see the 2024 one has a little more straightforward barrel plan, I look forward to that one too..

 

Canned 11/15/23. “$3000/mo no pets” stamped on the bottom of the can

I’ve never even heard of Urban Family hefore, but when I see this blend of barrels I just had to jump at this one. I’m particularly excited to see if the scotch barrel treatment will add any noticeable sharpness. Let’s crack it open and find out

Pours a deep brownisj orange with 2 fingers or soapy beige head that slowly fades to a thin cap and leaves decent lacing

It’s quite sweet in the nose, but compex enough to keep things exciting. I’m picking up on aromas of apple skin, sweet rum, molasses, buttery oak, oxidized madeira, burnt caramel, walnut, light pear, and earthy whiskey

The scotch actually seems to be making a contribution in taste, but it’s a bit heavy handed and weighs down the other notes. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting pear skin, peated scotch, smooth oak, molasses, earthy wheat, tannic red wine, burnt caramel, and brown sugar. The swallow brings notes of sweet rum, molasses, peated scotch, buttery oak, tannic red wine, raisin, apple skin, brown sugar, and light smoke

A full body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a slick beer. Finishes neutral with a boozy bite

This is an odd one. The blend of barrels on display here leaves a lot to be desired. Still, not bad by any means

Poured at fridge temp. Pours a very dark brown with a solid 2 inches of off-white head. Tons of lacing. The nose is fantastic. Sherry, quality rum, bourbon, caramel, plums, wheat, and nice soft bread. Absolutely awesome.

The taste is super complex. Almost a bit much - so many things going on. Getting Scotch, rum, and sherry all at once, plus some citrus peel hops and toffee. Boozy as well. I am not sure that I'm a fan of so many very different types of barrels coming together in a single beer. Just seems like a bunch of conflicts. Any one of these I could see being amazing. As it warms, I get a bunch of sharp oak and raisins. Quite a sharp boozy note. Probably wouldn't buy again.