35th Anniversary Ale
Boulevard Brewing Co.

3/8/25 - (Bottle- Home) (Chicago, IL) Bottle Notes: Purchased at store temperature at Beer on the Wall for $4.55 including tax on November 27, 2024. I refrigerated this bottle upon returning home before opening this morning. 12 oz bottled 10/3/24, best by 10/3/26. 11.5% ABV, 35th Anniversary Barrel-Aged Blend Anniversary Ale aged in Holladay Bourbon Barrels. Feelin' Fine Since 1989. Brewed & Bottled by Boulevard Brewing Company, Kansas City, Missouri.

Appearance: Poured about 2/3 of the bottle into a snifter, yielding a dark plum brown near black base, white caramel color bubbly lacing which yields a block of razor thin lacing above, and creamy thin bubble congregation around the rims. Very tiny carbonation bubbles continue to emerge as this warms. 4.25

Aroma: After 15 minutes to warm toward room temperature, this yields a boozy and malty beverage, with a barley malt critical mass the far and away leader, and a smooth sweet bourbon on melting ice backing nicely. Strong and pleasant. 4.0

Taste: Malt and sweetness front, center and behind. Caramel, butterscotch, toffee, then plums, cherries, raisins. Really nice. Bourbon slowly emerges as this reaches peak temperature, some oak, sweet and smooth, though the sweetness may be just more malt. Let this warm for 30 minutes plus and you should be a happy camper. 4.5

Mouthfeel: Medium body, perhaps bolstered by all the sweetness, negligible gentle carbonation, mostly still. Sweet, perhaps maximum level for me to still really enjoy due to personal aversion. Drinks powerful and strong, above the ABV, from go. Molasses, caramel, toffee bourbon finish. Very nice. 4.5

Overall: Overall, I winced with first sip due to malt/sweet personal aversion, but for the remaining 11 + oz really enjoyed this special anniversary beer. 30 + plus from the refrigerator for peak enjoyment. If I didn't have such a full stock, I'd try to find more, but will keep this experience in mind for their 36th Anniversary and beyond. One of my favorite non local breweries, really love they keep distributing here and producing fine selections like this one. Great value too for what you get. Well done Boulevard! Cheers to 35 more years! 4.5

Pretty good, a bit sweet for my taste compared to most beers that are labeled American.

 

Alcoholic raisins. I mean…it’s good…but…is this really beer?

 

 

 

12 ounce bottle, stamp on label says enjoy by 03OCT2026, big thanks to Brutaltruth for this! Served in a snifter, the beer pours a mostly clear brownish/copper color with not quite an inch light tan head. Head retention and lacing are both OK enough. I like the aroma, the brew smells like raisins, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, and some chocolate. Taste is pretty much just like the aroma, but with the addition of some nuts, molasses and dark bready flavors. Leans sweeter tasting. Barrel character is noticeable for sure but do wish it had a little more of a kick. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's slick and a bit syrupy with a moderate amount of carbonation. Overall I liked this one, definitely worth picking up if you come across some!

12 oz bottle dated March 2024 served in a Belgian snifter. Revisited in May

The aroma and flavor are boozy, but less so than might be expected in a barrel-aged ale with 11.5% ABV. At about 1.5 years since bottling this might benefit from further aging, but it's awfully good right now. While there's not much room for improvement, I'd probably like it even more if a touch less boozy and sweet. Note that it seems to sweet when it first hits the tongue but quickly achieves a fine bitter-sweet balance. I'd definitely like to have some more bottles of this.

Revisited in May 2026.

Dark brown in color with a very murky complexion. There’s a fingernail of brown around the rim. The aroma is sweet bourbon, pale wheat, and vanilla. I’m tasting sweet bourbon, a lot of pale wheat, and vanilla. The mouth is thick, chewy, sticky, and boozy.

Look: It pours brown with a tan head. Head retention is average.

Smell: There are strong chocolate aromas up front. with toffee. There are secondary notes of bourbon and nuts.

Taste: It has toffee and chocolate flavors up front. It has bourbon notes in support with some nut elements. There are low levels of dark fruits which are most like prunes. There are hints of cherries.

Feel: It has a full body with strong, but pleasant alcohol warming.

Overall: A complex bear that has various malt components.

12 oz bottle poured into a teku glass. Pours a clear amber brown color with a nice head that mostly fades away. Aroma and flavor offer dried fruit (raisin, fig), bready/caramel malt, bourbon, vanilla, and pumpernickel. The base beer is similar to a Scotch ale. Mouthfeel is impressively smooth for the abv, moderately carbonated, and very easy-drinking. Overall this is a tasty and well-balanced barrel-aged strong ale.

 

 

I got a bottle of this beer from my good friend and old neighbor from the 'Wego. It poured a murky amber with no head and no lace. The scent had Belgian malt and bourbon notes. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with semi caramel malt base with bourbon and Belgian sugar presence. The mouthfeel was medium in body and had good carbonation. Overall it is a solid beer.

Look - not sure what the hype is about look, but went ahead and poured in a wine glass. Very nice looking brown, slightly reddish color. Minimal tan head with lacing throughout.

Smell - bread, molasses, caramel, ripened dark fruit, bourbon. Certainly pleasing.

Taste - follows the nose. Upon first drink, I rated taste at 4, changed to 4.5 at around 25% remaining. Love these beers that are strong like wine, give a nice buzz and that warming feeling in your gut, but don’t give the feeling of “I’m going to pay for this tomorrow” as wine does.

Feel - for 11.5% abv, mouthfeel is great. One thing I like about imperial stouts (which this is similar to) is that they sort of make up for lack of carbonation with the general thickness of the brew. This is slightly more carbonated than an imperial stout, and slightly less thick. Perfect mouthfeel in my books.

Overall - the molasses-y sweetness is a little much, especially up-front. However, once the alcohol starts coursing through your veins, the buzz pairs well with the taste and makes this beer tremendous.

Just realized I’m old, and that Boulevard was established a year before me. I’m turning 35 this year. What a great ode to 35 years.

 

 

Pours a small fizzy tan head with a bit of retention and lacing, dark but clear mahogany reddish brown color

Nose brings a lot of sweet malt, caramel, toffee, molasses, candied apple, vanilla icing and a bit of velvet cake, a bit fruity, light whiskey and barrel notes

Taste brings more sweet malts, again the caramel toffee up front, a bit nutty, brown sugar into candied apple, fair fruity esters bringing orchard fruit, soft raisin fig as well, into a bit of whiskey, light sweet bourbon and plenty of vanilla, some from barrel notes and some vanilla spice, sticky toffee with a bit of chocolate, cookie and cake notes, a touch of bitter hop, semi smooth slight fusel alcohol notes, sticky finish

Mouth is fuller bod, sticky sweet, med to lower carb, med warming alcohol

Overall not bad, a bit of the heavy sweet side even for this style, but decent barrel notes, and generally good beer

best by 10/3/26. Drank 3/29/25
Pour is a deep amber with a lightly khaki cap of foam taht settles to a ring around the glass with good lacing.
Nose is dark fruit, plum, yeasty ester
Taste is dark fruit, plum, caramel, toasted bread crust, carnalized malt, molasses, faint bourbon, some raisin, getting a lot of barleywine notes.
full, chewy body. medium/low carbonation

Overall a very good beer. Nicely balanced. Barrel aged, but I'm not getting a ton of barrel. A lot of different flavors in this one. As stated above, it's coming off pretty forward in the 'barleywine' vein to me.