Insanity
Weyerbacher Brewing Co.

Dark brown color. Thin, off-white head. Aroma of raisins, bourbon, oak, caramel. Sweet, malty taste with bourbon and vanilla notes. Full, creamy body. Warming finish.

This one is Blithering Idiot aged in whiskey barrels. Poured from a twelve ounce bottle, the body is a dark brown. Small white head at pour and a wee head throughout the tasting.

Aroma is a delightful sweet caramel though hilariously one of our cats sniffed this beer then wretched :grin:

Taste follows nose as the heavy malt bill is quite forward. Upon tasting a light fig flavor appears along with notes of oak. The combination is crazy good but much heavier than Blithering Idiot. The barrel is very present, but not overly hot.

Mouthfeel is heavy. Carbonation is good but on the light side.

A fine sipper of a barleywine worthy of your attention if an English style barleywine fan.

 

 

 

 

A bit murky and chestnut wood stain brown. It did have a finger or so of that tan head but it pretty much dissapears immediately. A very thin ring of bubbles remains. Liquid does sheet the glass nicely.

Rich malts, drunken dark fruit fairly hefty in cherry, toffee/caramel and brown sugar. Very nice layer of barrel characteristics- oaky, pretty good level of sweet vanilla, whatever whisk(e)y may have occupied the barrels.

The taste follows - flavor waves crashing. This isn't subtle. Robust and sweet malty goodness. Toffee and brown sugar, not so much caramel. The fruit comes to the front more and is mainly cherry with some raisins and dates. Oaky and spicy phenolics weave through, whiskey and vanilla come and go. Minimal bitterness. Alcohol isn't shy but it's not super hot - mildly warming.

The feel is smooth, a little sticky, dry finish. A little above medium viscosity.

I'm in a happy place on this one - it's just hitting right. Spot on for the style. No nonsense, straightforward. I'll be buying more.

 

 

 

12 oz bottle
Brewed on: 11/11/16
Best Before: 11/11/21
Date Consumed: 04 Feb, 2023
Glass: snifter
ABV: 11.1%


Look:
Opaque chestnut brown crowned with a half-finger tan head. The head settles to a ring of tan lace.

Aroma:
Rich and sweet maltiness. Caramel. Toffee. Brown sugar. Stone fruits, especially cherry. Noticeable notes of oak and bourbon whiskey (vanilla, the aforementioned cherry and brown sugar, some coconut, wood, touch of baking spice).

Taste:
All of the notes from the aroma are here. The caramel, toffee, and brown sugar, and cherry (dark/black cherry) are more prominent in the taste than in the aroma. As is the coconut, though not as much. The alcohol can be noticed and provides nice mild but warming burn (which isn't surprising). The sip finishes warm and semi-dry.

Feel:
Creamy and a tad sticky. There is a nice warmth from the alcohol. The body is medium.

Overall:
A complex and enjoyable Barleywine of the English persuasion. This beer is drinking nicely at 6.25 years old (and 1.25 years past its Best By Date) and makes quite the nice winter time sipper.

 

BIG CARB for a barleywine
Poured it and retaining some head
12/30/14
12/30/19 date code on label
Poured seemed eh a little thin but let’s get into this. Appreciated inside a Rona 360 mL Celebration wine glass

Nose is bad
Mildewy leather cardboard
Taste is better
Pruney raisin, thinner than id like
Leathery old flavor marginal barrel
I guess this fucker is pretty old and perhaps past it’s prime assuming it’s a 2014 release? So 8 years old, in that case let’s try to be nice.
Prune raisin, thin body, decent sugars pretty nice so it’s not bad but it’s not that good. I think you’ll need to take into account the extended age of this one. Assuming the body hasn’t changed since inception id appreciate a slightly thicker feel but can’t complain too much, there is a noticeable viscosity. 3.9/10

 

Caramel color with a 1F head. The look is the only weaker aspect of the beer. Strong oak in the aroma, very smooth MF especially for the style, and very smooth. The taste mirrors the aroma with some added fruit. An excellent Barleywine. More balanced than Bigfoot and other beers in the style.

Pours a nearly clear dark chestnut color with a small head and light lacing.

Smells of bourbon, oak and dark fruit.

Tastes of sweet malt, raisins, caramel and vanilla with a warm boozy finish.

Medium heavy body with very light carbonation. Lush syrupy mouthfeel.

This is one of the sweetest barleywines I have ever tasted.

Pours the most gorgeous brown color you’ve ever seen, a little hazy, with a light tan head that sticks around a bit. Absolutely beautiful beer. The nose is rich with caramel and toffee notes, and there’s a nice oaky aroma from the barrel - and of course, the stone fruit.

The stone fruit is the key to this, and the base beer (Blithering Idiot). I am literally salivating.

The caramel and toffee flavors are forward on the taste, as they should be, and there’s a delicious oaky flavor from the barrel, which also provides a bit of alcohol heat which fits this big beer (13.3% ABV) perfectly, but it’s that stone fruit that reels me in - the dark cherry flavor is the PERFECT complement to the aforementioned components. I could drink gallons of this.

The mouthfeel is substantial and a bit creamy. I loved the base beer, and I love this variant a smidge more.

Very oaky barrel. Good carbonation. Balanced between American and English style to my palate.

Aggressive pour yields more head (with more staying power) than anticipated. A pretty solid ring of lace forms as it slowly recedes. Body is a murky doo doo water brown. The label says that this was aged in "oak barrels", but it's pretty clear from the smell wafting into my nostrils that those barrels once contained whisky. And so, too, does this beer. Lots of it. Not picking up the usual "barrel char" notes that these bourbon barrel aged beers often lend; this is just neat, straight-up whisky. The base beer offers up some caramel notes and bitter hops and I'm getting rather excited that this is a proper barleywine and not just a triple IPA. *sips* Oh, it is! Malty sweet caramel up front with drying whisky to balance things on the back end. Very, very nice. Soft, "Sugar Daddy" caramel lingers on the palette. Pretty well full-bodied with proper "chew". Mild bittering. I really like this one. It's a little cold (left it in the fridge overnight), but I'm going to sip slowly and let it warm to see if it opens up any hidden complexities. Something tells me it will.