Dave's Barrel-Aged Barleywine
Angry Chair Brewing

 

 

 

 

 

2/3/18 from Untappd

 

 

 

Appearance - The beer poured a murky brown color with a white head crowning the pour.

Smell - This beer smelled sweet, almost like freshly picked berries. The barrel aging was also noted.

Taste - It was as though I were drinking maraschino cherries without having to ingest the toxic red color. There was a bit of tartness to cherries, with the bourbon being light. The barley was closed to being chewy as it left a nice bready backbone.

Mouthfeel - The feel was almost chewy with breadiness.

Overall - This is a fantastic barleywine.

Thanks to the fine johnyb & Freezing_Balls for 750 ML bottles of this fine-looking ale (mostly because I forgot about one of them, but hey, that’s OK!).

The pour spills out dark brown with an almost immediate cessation of all things bubble. I can’t comment on the nose because I start sucking it down pronto.

Dave’s Barrel Aged Barleywine dances in the mouth like it’s never heard Somebody to Shove before. Excellent toffee/caramel is barreled over by the bourbon forming a lovely base. Mid-palate brings those things almost lost in the shoving: maple syrup, raisin (which mars it a bit for me). The mouthfeel is thin, the only knock I can discover, but it amps up the drinkability.

Not legendary but an excellent barleywine. Already looking forward to the second.

Bourbon barrel version. Shared bottle at regional tasting. Dark brown colour. Bourbon and molasses in the aroma. Rich and sweet flavour, bourbon and oak galore. Good, but maybe too much of the good stuff?

 

 

 

 

 

Figs, raisins, dates, fruitcake, vanilla, caramel/toffee, molasses, etc., from the base: typical top-of-the-line BW base.

The barrel character is absolutely world class: heavy vanilla, milk chocolate, light cola, almost-imperceptible tart red fruits, and a heavy-hitting spicy woodiness that carries long after the finish and dries out the sip. Wasn't expecting a tour de force barrel profile from AC, but the more you know . . .

Just wow. Poured into a snifter. Darker than expected with a clear dark brown hue and a modest tan head. Aroma and taste featured rich caramel and toffee notes that was pleasantly complex. Hints of chocolate and vanilla, and even coconut were there. The barrel complemented this perfectly. One of my all time favorites of this style.

 

 

 

 

 

This one pours a golden dark brown color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This one smells like caramel, toffee, maple candy, molasses, bourbon, dark fruit, and oak.

This is really, really tasty, and possibly the best beer I've had overall from Angry Chair. It's so thick and malty, with gobs of caramel, fruitcake, cinnamon toast, maple, sweet bourbon, oak, light chocolate, and toffee. It's super complex and super tasty.

This is thick, but not syrupy, like so many Angry Chair beers. There's no booziness at all.

I really loved this one. It's a malty beast.

 

 

 

This was really good. Syrupy thick, complex and sweet with plenty of barrel. I'm glad to say that I have a bottle of my own so I can review this in full at a later date. See you soon Dave!

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Opening a full bottle of this mid-November 2020, having previously sampled it at a bottle share mid-summer last year, I find it even more enjoyable than my initial impressions, which isn't usually the case with those small pours.

As far as appearance goes, it's a muddy mahogany black with a short but dense tan head that dies to a thin filmy blanket.

Smell's got that deeply savory and signature maris otter barleywine love accented by cigar and date, where the barrel contributes coconut and Raisinets. However, a hefty punch of dark chocolate adds some surprising excitement to the mix.

Taste is tangy and sweet cocoa-dusted date, and there's those Raisinets again. The tanginess has a nearly tart, unique sweetness to it, but it is not detracting. The round but moderate syrupy body's fine tingly carbonation cuts to a peppery char in the semi-dry yet numbing finish, where a hint of coconut cola comes out in the exhale.

Very mature and complex, this only improves as it warms. The exhale is just a perfect balance between those divine barrel notes and the wonderful malt showcase.