Barrel-Aged Bashi
Central State Brewing

16.9 ounce bottle, bottled 2/27/2019. Served in a snifter, the beer pours a cloudy reddish/brown color with almost an inch tan head. Head retention is decent, and there's a small amount of lacing. Aroma is nice and mostly fruity, the brew smells like dark fruit, red grapes/wine, vanilla, oak, raisin and a bit of clove. Taste is pretty much like the aroma, but there's also some earthy, grainy malt and a hint of bourbon flavors noticeable too. I think the wine barrel stands out here a lot more than the bourbon barrel does. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's coating and smooth with a moderate amount of carbonation. I thought this was a unique barleywine, I liked it overall. I bought this bottle a few weeks ago so there's still some out there depending on where you look. $8.49 a bottle.

A very interesting "farmhouse barleywine." I'm not sure what the "farmhouse" aspect signifies with respect to a barleywine, but I can kind of understand it after having tasted it. There are definite barleywine aspects, more British than American to my palate, but also some interesting spices--cardamom, cassia, clove--along with some brighter straw and grassy notes I would associate with a saison or farmhouse ale. I don't get a lot of the claimed stone fruits or wine barrels from the brewery notes, but there is a fair bit of oak character near the finish. Enjoyable and distinctive.