Brewer's Choice 2021: Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout & Barleywine Ale
Boulevard Brewing Co.

Poured from 12-ounce bottle into a tulip glass. Motor oil colored pour, with a full three fingers of dense tan head. This is amazingly easy to drink for such a high ABV beer. Big barrel character as I'd expect from Boulevard. Sweet, with big aromas and flavors of molasses, licorice, fig, raisin, and barrel char. No harsh edges on this sample, which has been cellared for at least a couple of years. This is one of those beers that every sip begs for another; you just want to keep drinking and hope it never ends. If you can find one, by all means snatch it up. You won't be sorry.

 

Pours black with small tan head fades to ring quickly.

Aroma is nice smooth, malty, bread, fruits plums, blackberry, hints of cherry, brown sugars notes, and chocolate. Smooth complex with light bourbon and deep Barley Wine notes.

Taste is like the nose not quite as smooth though. Mixture of stout and English BW notes with a smooth bourbon finish. Good fruit notes mingled through out.

Mouthfeel is smooth but seems lighter then a 14 precenter should be.

Overall very nice and enjoyable. Big huge beer but goes down nice and smooth.

Poured at fridge temp. Pours black with little head. Perhaps more dominated by the stout? The nose is dominated by dark fruit. Plums, red grapes, blackberries. A hint of toffee and maple also comes through. The taste is great. Roasted malts, maple, brown sugar, toffee, tons of dark fruit, and some nice chocolate notes. I definitely think this leans more towards a stout than a barleywine, but I love this blends! Mouthfeel is creamy and viscous. The aftertaste is sweet, but not too sweet. Overall, a great blend!

 

Appearance - Dark Mahogany body with dark tan head

Smell - Cherry, grape, raisin

Taste - Chocolate, grape, cherry, raisin, port, molasses, fig, hint of tobacco

Mouthfeel - Full bodied, medium carbonation, sticky, sweet upfront yet not cloying, finish is long and sweet (almost like a port), at the ABV, not picking up a lot of booze

Overall - This is a nice and enjoyable beer, balanced flavors, no discernable booze , its drinking great on a chilly night. I'd say it leans more towards the stout side of things, but the blend of the two styles makes for a good drinking experience. I would pick this up again if I saw it.

Price Point - $3.25/12 oz single

12 ounce bottle poured into an Avery Brewing snifter at 53°.
Deep black, thin khaki head that disappears quickly. Good oily ring stays on top.
Smell is complex and unique. It’s got the deep roast of a Stout and the sweet light roast of an American Barleywine. Bourbon. Dark fruit compote.
Tastes amazing! Plum, fig, exotic black cherry jam, char, bourbon up front, peppery rye follows. Nice long and sweet finish with all 14% ABV quite present.
Low carbonation. Medium thick.
Overall - I loved it.

 

 

 

 

Look: deep rich brown, no head for me
Smell: plum, raisin, barley bread, slight alcohol, wine, sweerlt
Taste: dark fruit, dark bread, rich sweetness. Very interesting, full flavoured, like a dark barely bread with plum/fig jam on top, so rich in that sense but also has a lovely brightness to it.
Feel: a light full body, low carbonation
Overall: a lovely combination - a rich full bodied beer with dark fruit notes but also stay bright

Last of the lovely mixed barrel six pack Boulevard dropped on our heads late last year. 12 oz. bottle.

Stout wins the looks battle & I’d call this black. Bouquet is toasted malt, strong bourbon, & light chocolate.

Barrel Aged: Imperial Stout & Barleywine Blend tastes like a newly invented hybrid (with much better drivers than those behind the wheel of a Prius). Up front is heavy black bread soaked in bourbon with just a touch of spiced rye. Molasses, sharp cocoa, vanilla, brown sugar, with a finish of effervescent alcohol. Tasty. Heavy. Sippable.

Delicious. And I haven’t ever tasted black bread in a beer before. Excellent beer. Scale it up, Boulevard!

L - Pours an opaque black-brown color with a one finger tan fizzy head that quickly dissipates. No lacing.
S - Unlike some others comments on a strong aroma, my bottle was a bit weaker with wisps of bourbon, oak, roasted malt, and dark cherries.
T - Big flavors of brown sugar, roasted malt, dark fruit and dark chocolate with a balanced bourbon finish that is long and tinted with black licorice. This is very sweet. Although not hidden, the alcohol is well balanced and does not give an early indication of strength, which means this is a dangerous brew at 14.2 ABV. The blend of stout with barleywine seems to tone down a bitter hop presence.
F - The body is thick without being overly syrupy and has a slight slickness. The low carbonation is more like a porter but it seems to work very well with this brew. Although there is a slight slickness, it leaves a light stickiness on the lips.
O - I was skeptical of this combo but find that is quite good. I would buy it again.

Brewer’s Choice 2021: Barrel-aged Imperial Stout and Barleywine Blend from Boulevard Brewing. 12 oz bottle from a mixed six-pack $23.00 (Including tax), $0.319/oz. Stored on room temperature shelf in store and at 40 degrees after purchase. Reviewed 2/4/22. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Stamped on rear of label “PLEASE ENJOY BY: 28SEP23”. Served at 54.6 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 57.4 degrees.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Ruby Brown (SRM 24), nearly opaque.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. When rear-lite, still opaque with slight penetration at the edges (ruby).
Head – Average (Maximum 2.2 cm, aggressive center pour), initially burnt umber but lightening to wheat, slowly diminishing to leave a 0.2 cm crown and a thin partial cap.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 4.5 – Heavy aroma of brown sugar and dark fruit, with warm bourbon overtones. No hops, no yeast.
Flavor – 4.5 – Begins slightly sweet with brown sugar and dark fruits followed by mild ethanol burn on the aftertaste. Allowing it to warm in the mouth before swallowing adds some weak cherry but does not increase the alcohol burn. No hops, no yeast, no barrel notes found. Ethanol (14.2% ABV, as marked on container) is not hidden but is attenuated by the sweet but weak bourbon. Some chocolate comes through as the roasted malt. Overall, pretty basic flavors but good, even though it’s a bit short of delicious. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4.25 – Full, approaching sticky, soft caressing carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4.25 The aroma is strong with this one, perhaps exceeding the flavor in strength and desirability. The barleywine aspect pushes ahead of the imperial stout characteristics to produce a slightly unbalanced brew, but still quite good. Worth trying at least once.

Not sure about this a black barleywine, comes across as more of a sweet imperial porter to me. Lots of milk chocolate and brown sugar plus some cherry and a little caramel. Plenty of booze, more bourbon than rye, and nice leathery oak notes.

Call what you will, it's damn good regardless.

 

 

 

Enjoy by 9/28/23. 12oz bottle poured into a tulip.

Pours almost black; small khaki head that fades leaving okay retention and decent lacing.

The aromas have bourbon leading the way. Some caramel and cherries. Malts are there.

The flavors are pretty bold. Lots of chocolate, especially dark chocolate. Lots of dark fruits. More cherries. More caramel along with some toffee. Some vanilla and coconut in the mix. The bourbon is very bold without diminishing everything else. The bourbon blends well and accentuates all of the ingredients. Subtle bitterness. Solid sweetness. Solid malt backbone. The alcohol is extremely well hidden, especially when considering the ABV. This one is the epitome of being dangerously drinkable.

Mouthfeel is full-bodied with moderate to lower carbonation. It's fluffy, slick and smooth.

This is a great barrel-aged beer, which is no surprise coming from Boulevard. This one is more imperial stout than barleywine, but the barleywine characteristics give this one a balanced sweetness. It might be slightly one dimensional, but it's still great nonetheless. It's very enjoyable and fun to drink. Well done.