Old Skook
Three Magnets Brewing

16oz can from bif 15 dated 01/28/22
Touch haze deep amber color
Smell is rasin toffee


I’m not the biggest barely wine fanboy but this hit the spot as a night cap sipper.

Sweet malt Coffee Carmel raisin but not too sticky at the same time ., hard to explain for me me but this damn tasty beer

 

 

16oz tallboy can purchased at Nectar, in Kendall Yards, Spokane, Washington, for $5.99. According to the stamp on the bottom of the can, this was canned on December 5, 2019, and is a "malt bomb."

Poured into a Kane snifter, this was opaque, and the color was somewhere between mud and dark brown, but not to the degree of looking black or like a cola. A rough pour yielded a very thin, tan head that faded with alacrity. No lace.

Initially the only aroma was a crude sweetness. This became more complex as it warmed. Toffeeish sweetness does stand out, but it's balanced by a sherry-like aroma, along with some pipe tobacco and some dark fruits.

Like in the nose, when still fridge-cold, this was pretty crude tasting- just sugar and alcohol, not unlike a malt liquor. Fortunately, it improved quite a bit as it warmed. Almost too sweet, up front, it's balanced by the dark fruity bitterness that follows. There's a deep, dark boozy heart to this beer that starts low in the mix, but advances slowly and steadily into play as it warms. Bit of a hoppy twang at the swallow.

Medium bodied, with a slightly oily mouthfeel.

Just a night cap beer, I'd say. It's pretty much too big and bold for much else. Hitting the spot on a stormy evening, that's for sure. Probably be nice to hit this in front of a fire.

pint can of barleywine north of 12% abv, sounds like a fun sunday solo mission right? this has won a gabf medal, pretty impressive, i feel like english barleywine from american brewers is a dying art, so i was stoked to see this, but i am always pumped for three magnets beer, i love these guys! this delivers too, deep amber and thick and frothy, tan headed and creamy looking, rich and malty of course, long boiled and concentrated, dried red apple, golden raisin, sherry, some light oxidation, bready english yeast, fresh bandaid, some astringency and booziness as it warms, tons of caramel, soft pretzel character, toffee, maple candy, cream soda, and brown sugar. its heavy and soapy feeling, sugary and hot, but the proportions are right, and it seems almost nutritive to me, huge and intense, but also kind of addicting. usually this kind of thing would be too sweet for me, but this works really well somehow, i think all the yeast character helps it be balanced. its monumental beer, but its very well made, and would be great in whiskey or wine barrels! a very classic example of the style, enormous and well refined, unique but still old worldy and english. a killer winter sipper, three magnets is one of my favorites right now, they seem to do so many different things well! i wish it was in a bottle, im sure it would age super well too. yum!

16oz can (of course. Dated 12/5/19, I think, first digit was illegible) poured into 14oz teku. Poured a solidly dense (no visibility at all, and a fair number of floaties) mahogany color with just under an inch tan head that had solid retention and light-to-moderate lacing.

Sweet malts were at the front of the aroma, but underlying leather, tobacco, and roast notes added depth and interest.

Pretty similar on the palate, with sweetness on the front, and roast lingering on the finish.

The body was fairly typical, perhaps a wee bit thinner than I prefer in the style), smooth, and had a medium finish.

Drinkability was good, the various flavor aspects kept me interested throughout the glass.

Overall, a pretty nice example of the style, certainly worth trying if you see it.

 

Bottom states it was brewed 12/5/19, so three weeks ago (also reads: MALT BOMB. Don't fully agree, but whatevs)
Pours a wonderful rusty toffee brown with a big billowing head that is pillowy soft and light brown in colour.

Nose starts off with a lot of grainy roast primarily. Some warming alcohol to the finish, but mainly when I dig. Really disappointing to be honest. I'm getting none of the fruits or sweeter malts that others have reported.

Thankfully the flavour brings some layers and levels of depth that were lacking on the nose. Sweet candied pith with leather and tobacco and maybe a faint burnt caramel. Again, others were getting a lot of plum and the like which I'm just not experiencing at all. Shrug. Looking back, though they are from previous years, so maybe this years batch just really is substantially different, whether intentional or not. Builds to a rich bitter finish.
Body is incredibly lush and smoothe and pillowy soft and is easily the highlight for me.

Overall I can dig it, and still might go back and grab a can or two to see how time changes things (hard to beat a canned barleywine for 4 bucks), but My experience with this can hardly matches those reported from previous years. Nothing but faint roast grain on the aroma, and some rich depth behind the bitter hoppy flavour, but not quite plumbing the corners I had hoped for. I think it's better than the final rating I gave it, but really don't feel any of its component ratings warrant adjustment.

 

Original Review
Picked up a four-pack of 16 oz cans while visiting the brewpub on 5-20-19 for $19.99. Canned on 11-27-18.

Beer poured a murky brown with a nice head with the original pour-4.0.
Nose is woody and boozy with some dark fruits but overly not super inviting. Wife went to bed early as the smell over powered her LOL-3.5!
Taste has some notes of figs and plums over a ginormous malt body. It was woody tasting and it has ample hopping that keeps the sweetness at bay-3.75.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied and pretty smooth-3.75.
Overall not a bad beer but one that needs aging. I will throw the remaining two into my wine cooler when i return to Phoenix for a couple of years and see if that improves things-3.75.

2nd review 11-21-20
Beer poured a deep reddish brown with a nice off white head that has some hang time-4.0.
Nose has grown nice, sherry like dark fruits have emerged from the younger beer and is much more appealing-4.0.
Taste is a sherry like malt base with figs and raisins. Finishes with a burnt toffee which is definitely a detraction-3.75.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied and has developed a nice smoothness-4.0.
Overall there is definitely an improvement to some attributes of the beer but the burnt toffee can use some rounding-4.0. Will give this another try a year or so from now.

3rd review 4-7-2021 (and last can):

With regard to the taste it is rounding nicely into shape as the malt base come across nicely with a heavy caramel and toastiness without any perceived bitterness and no cloying sweetness - 4.25.

Definitely sit on this beer for two years!

 

 

 

 

 

2015 properly cellared bottle, poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a hazy reddish orange with a half finger khaki head with great retention and lacing. Aroma of biscuit malt, figs, dates, hints of plum and caramel. Flavor is biscuit and mildly caramel malt, fresh figs, dates, plums, molasses, with a little hop bitterness in the finish. Medium bodied with sharp, active carbonation. Like the wood aged version, this barleywine leans in the direction of an old ale profile, with very biscuity, malted milk ball malt. Lighter elements of dark fresh fruit as well as classic dried fruit. There is a hop bitterness in the finish I did not expect, but it is not as sharp as in a typical American style barleywine. Maltier and less intense fruit flavor than a traditional English style, but quite good. Very active carbonation and a hint of of something sharp in the finish gives me a little concern about the aging possibilities for this, but so far it has aged well. A nice malty barleywine that is clearly a good base for the wood aged variant I tried last year.

 

wow, this is an amazing beer. have tried a number of brews from 3 magnets and they've all been up there. To me this drinks almost more like coffee stout then a barleywine. mouthfeel is smooth. taste is roasty chocolatey and nutty. alcohol is very well hidden and this will creep up on you for sure. Very well put together, get your hands on this if you can!

Dark apricot molasses color, quite attractive.
Pleasant little pale sand-colored cap that retreats into very pretty lacing.
Nose is brown sugar, caramel, burnt sugar, bright fruit and little warm biscuits, BUT, given all this deliciousness, it comes off as rather muted, maybe a little too understated.
This beer tastes very, very good. Everything promised in the nose is delivered, in perfect balance and with perfect timing. The yummy multi-layered sweetness bursts out first, beautifully balanced by rich, warm-toned malts. Mango and papaya resolve out of the sweet haze, accompanied by an elegant presence of earthy hops. And there's something else here as well - it's the old ale character, just the very slightest trace of funk buried in a little zone of dark, dark fruits? Or it could be a very authoritative bass player, putting that proverbial pedal down with a serious strong ale tone, who then grabs the whole ensemble, holds them over his head and throws them into the mosh pit without ever losing the harmony. This is really a beautiful beer.
Mouth-feel is excellent, just a trace syrupy without being heavy at all, medium-plus body and the carbonation of the gods - really amazing feather-soft bubbles suffusing everything.
Overall, excellent is an inadequate word for this beer. It alsolutely nails the English Barleywine style, just about as good as I've ever had, AND, it's different. The brewers have worked in those old ale characters with admirable finess to create something new and wonderful. This is craft brewing (really practicing the craft) at its very best.

Appearance is a deep amber/mahogany. Billowing head quickly settles but persists as a ring around the glass. Some lacing. Smell is molasses, toffee, faint coffee, sweet alcohol. Taste is complex malts and candied figs. Mouthfeel is creamy but syrupy, warming alcohol. Overall very tasty but I should have shared the bomber with a friend, a bit much to tackle alone.