Kieran
Lamplighter Brewing Company

Apparently this is the 2017 vintage even though I just picked it up recently. And 11.1% abv

Pours a large creamy dense foamy 1 finger head with great retention, decent soapy lacing, semi hazy iced-tea slight auburn brownish color

Nose brings loads of sweet caramel wine, toffee, candy, a little caramelized brown sugar syrup and maple candies, mild dark fruits, fig/date/plum notes, and even a hint of cherry, a bit of vanilla toasty oak barrel, and faint background whiskey, light perfumey alcohol

Taste more rich sweet malts, again big caramel, a little toffee, some maple candies and caramelized sugars, with mild dark fruits and a little candied fig, golden raisins, touch of plum, then a bit of vanilla and lightly toasted oak characters, even getting a touch of buttery oak, with a flash of bourbon whiskey, and a light warming but smooth alcohol, finish dries a bit and brings a touch more warm alcohol, with a little bitterness as well

Mouth is medium to a bit richer bodied, soft almost chewy like, and silky smooth, with lighter carb, and some light warming alcohol

Overall quite a nice solid barleywine, good base beer with plenty of sweet malts and various caramelized sugars, with light malt-derived dark fruits, a good barrel note and bit of bitterness to finish, I would have liked a bit more of the barrel, but they even say it was only 4 months so they wanted the lighter blended barrel into the beer rather than a big barrel up front so they could showcase the nice base beer. carbonation was a little light, but alcohol was nice and added positively to the beer, and the silky mouth was also a nice touch. I will def buy more to cellar if I can.

A very nice barleywine! Full of caramel malts, dark cherry plum flavors. A nice touch of bourbon whiskey notes from the barrel aging. Creamy smooth and full bodied, but not overly sweet.

Very well done, I'll definitely look for it again!!

 

Imagine port wine that has been aged with bread pudding that comes out delicious.