Bombs Over Barleywine - Tawney Port (2020)
Barreled Souls Brewing Company

 

Sampling a 2020 vintage of this beer in a 500 ml bottle poured at cellar temp into my snifter. Beer was picked up at the brewery in October and has been in my cellar since then.
The waxed cap is a bit tough to pry off, but I get it done. The beer pours a deep mahogany color with almost no light passing through the glass. Only some rich garnet red shows on the edges of my glass.
A fizzy khaki colored head of 1 cm foams up and fades to an edge layer shortly after the pour.
The aroma on the beer is rich with malt complexity. I get caramel and toffee mixing with molasses and some brown sugar, a lot of red grape note and some leather notes. Dont get the leather very much in beer but its clear to me here.
I also get a bit of fusol alcohol and zero hop character. Nose is very nice.
First sip reveals a medium to thicker body with very very fine carbonation that gently tingles across my palate. Texture is sticky and coating with a slightly syrupy feel.
Flavor is similar to nose with lots of malt notes, including brown sugar, toffee and the red grape note. I also get some maple syrup that I didnt note on the nose. Generally the flavor is sweeter, but not candy like. I do get some boozy bite on the finish but no warming on the swallow. The lingering red grape and port character carries me to my next sip.
Quite a nice barleywine and the port barrels have left quite the beneficial impression on the beer IMO.