Wisdom
Barreled Souls Brewing Company

2020, drank Aug., 2024, really awesome!

 

Bottled on 7/31/2020; consumed on 2/4/2022

Pours a viscous, pitch mahogany/off-black body topped with barely a finger of fluffy, off-beige foam; head recedes rather quickly to a spotty few paper-thin islands of cap, a large, frothy collar, and no lacing holding to the walls of the glass.

Aromas of baked fig and tinges of smoke open to resounding leather as bourbon peaks with vanilla swirling into toffee, caramel, and cocoa-laced panettone; blueberry esters linger into raisin compote on the back end of the bouquet, while a distant malt char further balances bittersweetness into the close.

Taste shows raisin jam with twangy Concord grape and underripe blueberry accents upfront, with toffee syrup cut by nuances of burnt hazelnut and bakers cacao over the mid-palate; dusty barrel into the back end finds a big bourbon presence lurking, culminating with boozy, slick vanilla coating the finish.

Mouthfeel brings a medium-full body with a minimal spritz of carbonation poking through viscous textures into a vague grit briefly staving off stickier characteristics over the mid-palate; semi-charry and drying into the back end, an unexpectedly clean finish sports a burly, lingering warmth last the swallow.

The richness defines a profile with the requisite depth to balance, amplifying waves of dark fruit with charry, residual barrel sweetness for an effective approach to decadence, threaded delicately across this old ale for a bolder sipping experience.

 

 

Pours a ruddy blackish-brown with a finger-and-a-half of mocha-colored head that dissipates fairly quickly into a thick wisp and crown. Modest lacing.

Caramel, leather, cherry cola and vanilla in the nose.

Strong cherry and some caramel make it seem sweet up front, but the sweetness is tempered by the leather, brown bread and warming alcohol. Hints of plum, toffee, earthy hops also show here and there.

Smooth, luscious mouthfeel.

Nice mix of flavors. Complex and tasty.

 

Sampling a cellar temp 500 ml bottle poured into my snifter. The beer was picked up at the brewery a few months ago and has been in my cellar since. 17 months in weller bourbon barrels sounds perfect!
The waxed cap comes off and I pour the beer which is dark slightly hazy mahogany color as it pours from the mouth of the bottle. In my glass, no light passes through the dark cola brown color. A fine beige colored head of about 1.5 cm foams up and fades quickly to a sturdy edge layer and some spinning islands on the surface of the beer.
The aroma is bold and malt forward with a rich complexity of scents. I get brown sugar, toffee, raisins, figs and some bourbon hits. I also get a bit of dry tobacco note and some port wine character. I dont get any hop presence and there is also a faint whiff of black peppery spiciness. A lot going on here.
The first sip reveals a medium to thick body with very smooth texture. Kind of a creamy feel and fine and spacious carbonation. Another super experience on the physical traits from a Barreled Souls beer.
Flavor is also bold and complex just like the nose. There is a lot of sweet malt note up front with brown sugar and big toffee note. This rolls to some dark fruits, raisin, fig and red grapes here, and the finish is creamy sweet Werthers candy that coats my palate completely and makes my lips sticky. WOW! That flavor is so tasty.
I never find the hops in this beer and there isnt even any warming or fusol bite from the higher ABV on this beer, making for a slightly dangerous, amazingly soft sipping beer. SOOO glad I have another bottle in the cellar.

 

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

This smells like dark chocolate, Werther's candies, oak spice, nutty malt, caramel, and dark fruit. The aroma just jumps out of the glass and slaps you around.

The barrel on this is just killer - with that dark deep oakiness from a great barrel, along with bittersweet caramel and leathery bourbon. This is a fairly chocolatey strong ale, and that works for me. There's also some almost vinous dark fruit character, honey, and toffee candy.

This is not boozy in the slightest, despite the high ABV. It's creamy, rich, and it's a good slow sipper. I took the whole bottle down over the course of two hours - it was just so enjoyable and I didn't want the experience to end.

This is quite easily the best beer that I've had so far from Barreled Souls. It's one of the best old ales that I've ever had - just a great example about how a long slumber in a great barrel can make a nearly perfect beer.

 

Dark brown pour with thin cream colored lacing and little to no carbonation. Oak, molasses, and bourbon on the nose. Taste is oak, bourbon, roasted caramel malt, molasses, toasted brown sugar. Thick and pillowy soft texture and minimal ABV warming which is surprising for a beer with this kind of ABV.

Recommended.

 

Pours black, basically no head. The smell has a good bourbon aroma on the nose. The taste of the beer is sweet but had a good dry caramel finish, the feel is smooth, late dryness in the finish. Overall a huge beer, really impressive