Bruno
Machine House Brewery

Pale, fairly clear pour, brown; somewhat cloudy body; thin head, soapy. Nice nose; caramel and toffee character, brown sugar and molasses. Molasses and brown sugar flavor with notes of raw oak; subtle phenol-like bitterness; fig. Heavy body; dense and rather chewy; low-key boozy warmth.

Labeled as a barrel-aged still barleywine, I find a respectable amount of carbonation compared to other still beers I've tried (that had virtually no indication of carbonation or head). The barrel-aging shines through yet doesn't over-power anything. There is beauty in a seemingly simple yet slyly complex beer such as this. Kind of a dark horse barrel-aged barleywine. Delightful overall.

ABV: 13%; pouring temperature: 48.1 °F; bottling info: Bottled November 2022
Source: the ever gracious @snaotheus

 

First pour at cellar temp, I'll have the second pour later at fridge temp. Oh yeah, this is exactly what I'm in the mood for. It's lightly sweet overall with lots of layers and depth. Plenty of figs and raisins with some brown sugar dusted roasted pecans, leather, warming brown liquor, and faint molasses. So glad I got to try this, thanks Tim!

Poured at just warmer than fridge temp. As expected, this pours basically still. No head. Dark muddy brown. The nose is amazing. Rich toffee, prunes, figs, maple doughnut, vanilla, and bourbon. The taste....oh the taste. Lovely. Tons of toffee, a touch of smoke, light coffee, maple, walnuts, figs, oaky bitterness, boozy bourbon, and a hint of black licorice. So dang good.

Poured from 500mL bottle into a dimpled mug.

Appearance: thick dark murky brown hue with no head at all. Usually I like to see some foam, but in this style, it’s okay to be bald on top.

Smell: dates, raisins, cured tobacco, brown sugar … I mean, what else is there? It’s very nice indeed.

Taste: richly malty with, obviously, plenty of sweetness. The rich dark fruits are present here as in the aroma, but the overall effect is deeper and headier. I think maybe the complexity isn’t as much as the aroma, but the depth is great.

Mouthfeel: tons of body but darn-near flat. The label says this is bottle conditioned but I don’t get much of that; could be a one-off, but Machine House specialize in cask beers, so I’m guessing not.

Overall: I mean, it’s a candy-sweet 13% monster, so it’s not really a crushable beer, but of course it’s not meant to be. This is a tasty sipper I’ll be enjoying the rest of the night.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a somewhat hazy, dark reddish orange with a thin light khaki head that dissipates to thin patches with slight lacing. Aroma of dry caramel malt, dates, raisins, whiskey and molasses. Flavor follows, with dry caramel malt, dark molasses, dates, raisins and whiskey; light woody oak in the finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess and light carbonation. Although labeled as a "still barleywine", I was pleased to some light carbonation activity on the pour and there is light, but quite adequate carbonation in taste, just enough to give it some life. Flavor is deep English style with a rich malt reminiscent of some of the old English classics like Thomas Hardy and Old Peculier. Nice dark fruit and whiskey character from the barrel. A fine, traditional tasting, deeply malty barleywine. Nicely done. Machine House is out the gate in their new brewery in fine form.