Rocky - Tequila Barrel Aged
From The Barrel Brewing Company

Poured 16.9oz bottle into snifter. Vintage 2016. It is an amber light orange with a 2 finger white head. Nice webbed lacing and a thick collar cling to my glass. Aroma is ripe with tequila, flora and apple, with citrus and earthy hops mellowing into some caramel notes. Flavor is more of the barelywine and not as intense with the tequila. Some citrus, bread and caramel malts, hints of spice bring this beer together. Feel is medium and not too heavy, well carbonated, with a slightly dry finish. I enjoyed this unique offering.

Poured from 500 ml bottle dated Sept 2016.

A: Slightly cloudy golden yellow with one finger white head. Lasting retention and leaving moderate lacing.

S: Big tequila aroma as soon as I popped the top. Sweet caramel and a touch of honey.

T: Again the tequila shows up center stage. Lightly sweet bready malts and a spicy note similar to black pepper. Some hop bitterness but not as much as I was expecting.

M: Medium body with average carbonation. Very smooth for a barleywine.

O: Very nice BA barleywine. I normally gravitate towards bourbon aged beers, but this was a nice departure. The tequila is a little over the top, but might mellow with age.

 

Bottle from the brewery release. Slightly hazy deep copper color with a bubbly frothy off white head that slowly dissipates lacing the glass moderately on the way down. Bready caramel and toffee maltiness Spicy herbal lightly peppery woody notes. Hints of pineapple and stone fruit. Comes together pretty well, nicely made beer.

From a bottle from the 9/17/2016 release poured into my Locals tasting snifter.
This beer pours a golden orange color fairly clear with a thin white head that leaves some nice lacing on the glass.
The nose is pretty strong to the barrel aging with the Tequila being the most prominent aroma. There is a sweet smell present I assume from the malts in this blend.
The taste is close to what I expected from a barrel aged beer like this. A fair amount of Tequila in the front right now (will have to see if some age tones it down a little) there are some nice malts in the back of the mouth but still kind of hidden by the Tequila.
The mouthfeel is smooth a nice amount of carbonation.
In all this is a solid beer. Good flavors from the Tequila Barrel aging (I'll admit to being a Bourbon drinker) but perhaps still a little hot for my taste. I'm hoping a little more age will mellow this beer out.

From the 500 ml. bottle released on September 17, 2016. Sampled the same day.

The pour is reddish-amber with a modest off-white head. Better clarity than their regular Rocky.

The Tequila barrel aging is quite noticeable here along with the sweet barley grains and barley malts and a very low hop profile. The alcohol profile, thanks to the Tequila barrels, is a little more forward than their regular Barleywine.

Medium to full body. But as I drink this it cuts through my system as a warming almost hot sensation.

Big sweet barley grain character with a bit more booze in the taste than I picked up on the nose. Slightly lingering finish.