Watertown
Aslin Beer Company

 

Pours black with khaki floaties in it. Nothing off putting, but something to mention. Head is a finger of khaki foam. Aroma is coffee and vanilla bean that form the prominence and focal point of the nose. Vanilla bean and coffee split the nose by around 55 to 45, advantage vanilla. Toasty, roasty, and caramely malts add support and structure. It's nose starts to lean a little more towards stout than barleywine via the roasty malts, but still some high quality barleywine notes here. Flavor profile brings out vanilla bean and coffee first, with the former making up about 70% of the flavor profile. Coffee may have faded a little with age, as the vanilla bean really pops out more in the flavor than it does in the aroma. Toasty, caramely, and earthy malts form a firm base with a little bite of booze and char at the finale. Considering this is labeled as 16% ABV, it is remarkably well controlled and balanced. Mouth feel is thick with pretty darn smooth texture that carries a very light grit to it. Overall, boozy and big with coffee and vanilla bean forming the brunt of this beer. Worth noting, smelling the bottle provided absurdly rich coffee and vanilla bean nearing scented candle levels. Sniffing from the glass provided less coffee, with the flavor profile providing even less. Only mildly strange thing here is the stout-like malt notes. It certainly has barleywine character, but likewise, it's nearing stouts in terms of roastieness.

Served in a 12oz tulip from a 500mL bottle. Reviewed from notes.

Bottle courtesy of Snap_Rat.
Looks like a big stout with minimal brown head.
Big coffee and vanilla nose. Some caramel and dark fruit.
Tastes same, with significant booze bourbon presence. Any hops are drowned out.
Full mouthfeel with minimal burn.
Overall: this is a very well done barrel-aged 16% bomb. Even though the coffee makes it look like a stout, it seems like a fusion of stout & bw.

Very deep and sweet on the nose. Pours very dark. Lots of vanilla, lots of roast. Faint coffee that blends well. Surprisingly not hot for such a high abv beer. Really nice.

 

500 mL bottle from April 2020, poured into tulip glass and allowed to warm.

ABV on bottle is 16%, not 12%.

L: Very dark brown. Very small tan head with no retention to speak of. No lacing, no cap and ring.

S: Sweetness abounds. Sweet barleywine base with sweet coffee and vanilla both coming on pretty strong.

T: Yeah, this is sweet. Vanilla and very sweet coffee are up front with the honey really lasting and lasting.

F: Full-bodied - a little bit of carbonation. Construction is great, beer sets out what it wants to do. Not quite cloying, but close.

O: I like this sort of thing, so I scored it well. This is going to depend on your taste. I like them doing it with a barleywine and not a stout - shows creativity and imagination.