Old Numbskull - Rum Barrel-Aged (2025 - 30th Anniversary)
AleSmith Brewing Company

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a dark reddish orange with a somewhat fizzy, one finger, light khaki head that dissipates to a thin film with light lacing. Aroma of dry caramel malt, rum, dried plums, raisins and hints of citrus. Flavor is caramel malt, dried plums, dry toffee, dry rum, hints of lemon zest, grassy hops; dry boozy finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. It appears that the base Numbskull is masked by the barreling process. It still has the English barleywine dark dried fruit and caramel, but the rum is the story here, and it's a dry white rum, not the sweeter cane rum I expected. The hop bitterness in the finish as well as the mild citrus notes lean towards an American style barleywine, which I don't remember from the base Numbskull. (Note to self: it's long overdue to revisit Old Numbskull). It's a strong, flavorful barleywine with good barrel character, but I guess I miss the deep caramel and dark fruit of the original. Interesting to try, and I enjoyed the whole can, but not what I expected.

 

I really enjoyed this one. A good thing too, considering what I paid for it!! I buy a mixed case at a time at the Casual Pint in Virginia Beach, just picking random beers off the shelf (or refrigerated area) and putting them into 6 packs. Didn't realize I paid $14.99 for this beer until I opened it!!! Poured from a 16 oz. can into a pint glass, this beer poured a clear dark amber/reddish color with a medium sized bubbly cream colored head. The head was impressive for a beer this strong, even though it faded fairly quickly. A decent amount of lacing ringed the glass. Aroma and taste were excellent. Very malty with notes of dark fruit, toffee, a little caramel and of course the rum barrel flavoring.

Mouthfeel was rich and fairly smooth for a strong beer. Alcohol warming but little alcohol harshness/bite. Went down as easy as a strong beer could. I havent had a good Barleywine in a while. This one hit the spot!!!

I really liked this one. An interested reddish brown color, almost like.... rum.
Notes of toffee, caramel and...rum.
I've never had a beer this strong that hid the alcohol so well. Very smooth.

Drank 3/13/2026. Canned 11/7/25
pour is a amber / mahogany with a nice cap of khaki foam with good retention and lacing
Nose is toffee, caramel, molasses, toasted malt, vanilla
taste follows. toffee, caramel, vanilla, subtle, soft rum. very nicely balanced - the rum isn't dominate, but woven into the base barleywine flavors very nicely

overall, a very nice beer. nicely balanced. i was worried the rum would dominate which is a profile i don't typically care for. I'd still prefer bourbon barrels, but this is good.

 

 

Ruby red Barleywine pour with a very slight head. Quintessential Barleywine but $12.50 for a pint is not what I consider a good return on investment. To many great brews for a lot less money out there.

16 oz can poured into a snifter.

A: Dark brown in color with some garnet hues. Clarity is great. Cream colored head builds two two fingers in height, and takes its time. Settling into a thin cap. Delicate broken rings and small spots constitute the lacing pattern.

S: surprisingly tropical up front, for a brief moment. Estery, pineapple and tangerine. Rummy. Then comes the solid malt backbone. Lots of chewy light and runny caramel. Toffee and toasted biscuits. Sticky, toffee pudding. Pralines. Really pleasant oaky vanillans almost have a nilla wafer sort of impression. Pop spring flashes of candied grapefruit peel and orange gummy wedges.

T: The malt backbone does the heavy lifting right from the get-go. Lots of chewy caramel, rum raisin, sticky toffee pudding, and flashes of pecan pie. Lots of heavy toast and biscuit. The rum barrel picks up steam pretty quickly, building to borderline challenging levels on the mid-palate. There is plenty of light rum flavor and the boxiness to go with it. Playful oaky vanillans have a bit of that nilla wafer flavor. Hopping is generous with some heavy greenness, a brief flash of line, and lingering flavors of candied grapefruit peel and orange gummy wedges. Finish is runny caramel, citrus hops, and tailing oak and rum.

M: Hefty, full, round, and very chewy. You could practically cut it with a knife. Ample carbonation prickles at the tongue semi-aggressively and provides a little bit of lift. Some alcohol spice and just the slightest hint of hop tannin.

O: These must have been some very fresh, dripping wet barrels. I am a brown liquor guy, but even for me this starts to come off a little too hot to the point that it does impact drinkability. I suspect it will turn a lot of people off If they're sensitive to a little heat. The base beer is phenomenal, though. It's everything an American barleywine should be and more. The sheer chewiness and body in the depth of its dessert-like malt complexity really do stand out. I think this is to say that The base beer itself is an American classic, and a slightly more rained in barrel treatment, or different barrel treatment, could perhaps yield even better results.

Grabbed a can from Tavour. I had this poured into a Tap snifter at 50 degrees F. The lack of heavy chill did produce a nice creamy off white almost light tan head. But at this abv met expectations and dissipated rapidly. Overall body was a bit dark but attractive. Nose was somewhat muted and mostly malt and some rum. Flavor ( like recent productions of Numbskull) was decidedly not complex. HST… I’m not a fan of Rum barreled stouts…for me they add syrupy sweetness but little character or depth of flavors like simple oak, bourbon or rich wines might impart.
But for a BW…I thought I’d take a shot. Unfortunately just a bit of caramel…no real nuances or complexity.
Body was acceptably smooth and nicely light on carbonation. Almost a cask pull. But flattened and became more syrupy over the drinking.
Overall a nice beer. Flavorful, fairly attractive and a nice sipper for most part. I enjoyed it. But considering some of the masterful barrel creations that Alesmith has produced ( eg Remember when the Speakeasy first opened

 

Sweet and old school perfected. Big abv for big boy pants. On tap at the source. Ask me if it was good.Rum barrelling very good.Beers I travelled out this way for.

 

 

The beer pours an off-white and creamy head that dissipates at a moderate pace. The beer itself is a clear brown color that looks nice.

The smell contains sweet caramel notes and bitter earth hop notes with hints of vanilla and some rum in finish.

The taste contains caramel notes upfront and some bitter earthy hop notes in the finish. There are some incredibly rum and vanilla notes in towards the end, but the beer seems to be pretty weak on flavor overall.

The feel has a thin texture to it and very little carbonation. It has a pretty dry finish, especially for a barleywine.

Overall, this was an okay beer but not at the price point or worth trying. Skip.

 

This is ok, rum barrel beers just aren't as good as bourbon barrel. Are rum barrels generally second use? That would make this third use, I would imagine most of the yummy vanilla tannins have been leached out already.

Pretty dry overall, some caramel up front before bitter aspirin and wood join in at the end. There isn't a whole lot of rum to found here. Not worth the price of admission.

Beer #1200 and the last beer of 2025.

Honestly, not what I was hoping. The primary experience is a sour sweetness that gives way to bitter chocolate that leaves an unpleasant tangy flavor in its wake. Disappointing.

Clear mahogany color with shallow light khaki collar that faded quickly without lacing. Enjoyed the malty caramel nose; extra sweet with notes of the rum. I was disappointed with the flavor. The caramel butterscotch character was overpowered by the rum aged treatment. The mouthfeel on the high side of medium. The unbalanced flavors linger. I wouldn’t buy it again…personal preferences. Tavour.