Wine Barrel Aged Wild Iron & Barleywine
Funky Buddha Brewery

 

 

 

maybe the best barleywine i have ever had. sure this is a far cry from traditional, but what an incredible beer. a funky grape based barleywine, that has been aged in pinot barrels. murky pale purple in the glass, looks thick and kind of sloppy, but the color is cool, and it holds its head nicely. major funk in the nose, the first wild beer i have heard of from these guys, and one that comes unexpected, we dont often see these kinds of critters in bareywine, but its attractive to me, all funk no sour. the grape is strong int the nose too, winey and sweet, followed by the oak and the booze. all of this comes through in the flavor, but all very well balanced together. i get the pinot barrel first it seems, with the sweet oak playing with the simple but enormous malt base, followed by the mellowing effect it has, where the back and forth between the oak and the booze come out. there is some wood and wine tannic elements here, really dynamic with the bretty yeast complexion, maybe an english ale strain first with the brett later on, not sure how they made this one, but that would be y guess. sweet jammy purple grapes in here, musty and whole fruity, awesome on top of all the malt. sweet in the middle but drier and full wild tasting by the end, red wine, raw wheat, floral herbs, heather or lavender or something, and a lot of booze as it finishes and warms. carbonation is high for the style, and the uniqueness of this pushes it up near the list of coolest barleywines out there. some speculate the brett part of this was unintentional, but if thats the case, its a heck of a good miss. i think its too dialed to be accidental. loved this one!