Barleywine Aged In Bourbon Barrels
Saint Arnold Brewing Company
- From:
- Saint Arnold Brewing Company
- Texas, United States
- Style:
- English Barleywine
- ABV:
- 12.4%
- Score:
- +4 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 4.22 | pDev: 3.32%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 3
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Aug 12, 2023
- Added:
- Aug 01, 2020
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
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For this release, we rebrewed our 20th Anniversary Ale recipe, an English-style barleywine fermented with our Saint Arnold house yeast. To take things up up a notch, we aged it for 19 months in Early Times bourbon barrels.
The final beer comes in at 12.4% ABV. It pours a deep ruby color with a lingering khaki colored head. The aroma features caramel, bourbon, and vanilla with slight wood and dark cherry notes. You’ll taste dark fruit with bourbon notes and lots of toffee sweetness that lingers without being cloying. This beer has a full body with soft carbonation.
The final beer comes in at 12.4% ABV. It pours a deep ruby color with a lingering khaki colored head. The aroma features caramel, bourbon, and vanilla with slight wood and dark cherry notes. You’ll taste dark fruit with bourbon notes and lots of toffee sweetness that lingers without being cloying. This beer has a full body with soft carbonation.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Ratings by maximum12:
Reviewed by maximum12 from Minnesota
4.13/5 rDev -2.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
4.13/5 rDev -2.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
Big ups to megadeph for this 500ML bottle. Understated parchment-style label with the release year (2020) on it. Just seeing the year makes me want to vomit.
The pour is stated to be ruby & I’m not going to quibble, as it’s dark, opaque except where ruby glints through around the edges. Beautiful. The aroma is mostly dark toffee & a long, slow slip of bourbon. I like.
St. Arnold’s Bourbon Barrel Barleywine is tasty, but thin. For a big beer, there’s minimal body. Taste mimics the nose with big toffee & bourbon that suffuses the senses rather than biting them. Beneath these two heavy hitters are vanilla, oak, drying wood, grape liqueur (where the hell does that come from?). Did I mention it’s thin? But with that comes a smoothness that rivals Sophia Vergara’s cheeks. And that thinness makes this dangerously drinkable.
Interesting beer. The combo of tastes sounds mundane, but they interact in a way that makes this taste unique. Excellent beer.
Jan 05, 2021The pour is stated to be ruby & I’m not going to quibble, as it’s dark, opaque except where ruby glints through around the edges. Beautiful. The aroma is mostly dark toffee & a long, slow slip of bourbon. I like.
St. Arnold’s Bourbon Barrel Barleywine is tasty, but thin. For a big beer, there’s minimal body. Taste mimics the nose with big toffee & bourbon that suffuses the senses rather than biting them. Beneath these two heavy hitters are vanilla, oak, drying wood, grape liqueur (where the hell does that come from?). Did I mention it’s thin? But with that comes a smoothness that rivals Sophia Vergara’s cheeks. And that thinness makes this dangerously drinkable.
Interesting beer. The combo of tastes sounds mundane, but they interact in a way that makes this taste unique. Excellent beer.
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by johnnnniee from New Hampshire
4.14/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
4.14/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Bottle purchased at the source shared with MrBarleywine.
Mostly clear deep tawny brown with a small off white head that dissipates quickly. Lots going on here. Caramel covered pitted fruits hints of vanilla and oak with a nice hit of warming alcohol. Great sipper!
Aug 12, 2023Mostly clear deep tawny brown with a small off white head that dissipates quickly. Lots going on here. Caramel covered pitted fruits hints of vanilla and oak with a nice hit of warming alcohol. Great sipper!
Reviewed by champ103 from Texas
4.14/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
4.14/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Bottled on 5/21/2020
A: Pours a dark ruby brown color. At first, a fizzy white head rises to about a finger, but recedes quickly to a ring. Not much lace left behind. Though that is pretty on par for a big high ABV and barrel aged offering.
S: The nose is warm, inviting, and all around well done. Wood, toasted malts with a bit of camp fire. Toffee, dark fruits and vanilla. Lots going on but nothing is overpowering.
T: Oh man, again lots going on here, but still everything is very much balanced. From the wood, light camp fire smoke, toasted malts and dark fruits. The sweetness is never overpowering, and an interesting savory salted toffee character going on.
M/O: A medium to full body. High carbonation, especially for the style. Though that is fairly common for anything from this brewery. It could have a little more silky fullness, but the trade off is something that is not overly heavy in anyway. The perfect amount of alcohol is noticeable to make this more warming than hot, which makes this a very enjoyable sipper.
This bottle is over three years old. Outside of some dark fruits, which is to be expected from the style anyway, there is no noticeable oxidation. There is a ton of character, and none of that is overpowering or makes this unbalanced. Really well done overall, which for me is to be expected from Saint Arnold.
Jul 23, 2023A: Pours a dark ruby brown color. At first, a fizzy white head rises to about a finger, but recedes quickly to a ring. Not much lace left behind. Though that is pretty on par for a big high ABV and barrel aged offering.
S: The nose is warm, inviting, and all around well done. Wood, toasted malts with a bit of camp fire. Toffee, dark fruits and vanilla. Lots going on but nothing is overpowering.
T: Oh man, again lots going on here, but still everything is very much balanced. From the wood, light camp fire smoke, toasted malts and dark fruits. The sweetness is never overpowering, and an interesting savory salted toffee character going on.
M/O: A medium to full body. High carbonation, especially for the style. Though that is fairly common for anything from this brewery. It could have a little more silky fullness, but the trade off is something that is not overly heavy in anyway. The perfect amount of alcohol is noticeable to make this more warming than hot, which makes this a very enjoyable sipper.
This bottle is over three years old. Outside of some dark fruits, which is to be expected from the style anyway, there is no noticeable oxidation. There is a ton of character, and none of that is overpowering or makes this unbalanced. Really well done overall, which for me is to be expected from Saint Arnold.
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