Baller Baracus
Mason Ale Works

Received a can from @beersnake 3-13-23, thanks Tim! Consumed 3-13-24.

Beer poured brown with an okay off-white head.

Nose is nice with notes of dark fruits.

Taste is all over the place as the first sip was full of dark fruits but then a flood of alcohol heat followed. I am getting notes of plums, strawberries, brown sugar to go with a dark fruit liqueur. Finishes a tad sweet and boozy.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied with each sip being smooth.

Overall, a fun beer to try, sweet heat to simply describe this. I never have had mead so have no basis of the benefit of aging in this type of barrel.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Year old, refrigerated can. Pours a very dark reddish brown with a fine, two finger light khaki head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of caramel malt, well dried dates, mead and citron; somewhat exotic. Flavor is caramel malt, lemon zest, dates, raisins, mead, mixed mystery berries. Lemon/citron zest finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. A barleywine aged in mead barrels did not seem like a workable idea, and this really does taste like a mixture of mead and a light English barleywine, but it turned out fine and interesting. There a lot of lighter fruit notes mixed in with the more typical English barleywine dried dark fruit. The most interesting is the citrus zest element, but there are other light berry and unidentifiable fruit notes here too. I'm a fan of mead and the mild honey element from the barrel is quite nice; the other fruit notes of a mead are blended quite well with the barleywine. The complexity invites repeated drinks, but with the beastly ABV, caution is required; the alcohol is well covered. I was not expecting to like this combination as much, but I'm quite enamored of it. I like it when an off-beat idea like this works out well. I'd like to see this again.

16oz can at share. Muddy brown pour, flat. Dark and malty aroma, fig, raisins, cinnamon. Taste adds notes of vanilla, earthyh, leather. Mild sweetness and subtle strength.

I am sampling a cellar temp 16 oz can poured into my snifter. Ive had the beer for well over a year and half at this point. Sent to me in a trade. Been excited to open the can and tonight is the night.
Pours a dark cola brown in my glass with a creamy dense beige head of 1 cm. this foam fades to a sturdy edge layer and one large island on the surface of my glass. I do get scattered lattice when I swirl the glass or take a sip.
Aroma on this beer is bold, I get some toffee and vanilla mixing with a bit of brown sugar and some general wooden notes. Hints of fruity sweetness with red grapes being prominent. I also get a bit of peppery booze, which isnt a surprise considering the ABV. No hop profile on this aroma.
First sip reveals a medium body and very smooth texture. Small spacious carbonation rolls gently across my palate. The Beer does leave some stickiness on my lips and palate after each swallow.
Flavor is very complex and malt forward, similar to the nose. I get toffee and brown sugar mixing with dark fruit of raisin and again some red grape notes. There is definitely some wooden oak note that dries out and lingers and this combines with a bit of black peppery bite. I attribute this bit to booze not hops. Surprisingly there isnt really any accompanying warmth from the booze.
This is a complex and interesting barleywine, also quite dangerous with the ABV and lack of warning. Definitely a sipping beer. Glad to have tried this one

This beer is very dark pouring brown - almost black. The head is 2 finger, and brown. Extremely long lasting head for a beer that's 16%. There's some beautiful lacing on the glass.
Deep nose. Somewhat boozy, roasted, nutty, plum, raisin, fig, and malty. It's aged in mead barrels, and maybe that's where I get some aromas I'm smelling. All are pleasing to me.
Taste - There's tons of dark fruit in this beer. Lots of plum, fig and raisin that hits right away and lingers. I also get raspberry up front that also lingers with the dark fruits. Some caramel pops into the mix with some roasted nuts.
Thick body. Slight burn that doesn't feel like it comes from a 16% beer.
This beer is quite unique and very interesting to say the least. I know there's a lot I'm not able to put my finger on, but I do know it's delicious, and I like it. It's a sipper for sure.

Mostly opaque dark brown pour with a finger of oatmeal colored foam. Smell and taste are very fruity: raisin, blackberry, plum, red grape, and blueberry in that order of strength. Nose has sweet caramel, vanilla, and toasty oak with it. Taste has that plus honey dipped barley. Feel is where the mead and malt sweetness catches up, especially as it warms, barley and warmth are muted.

 

Deep, dark brown body, appears opaque in the glass; thick, rocky and creamy khaki colored head, long lasting; nice patchy sheets of foam coat the glass. Very alluring aroma; sweet and spicy; black cherry and dark pitted dried fruit; touch of sweet chocolate. The taste amps up the smell components; licorice and cherries; excellent boozy undercurrent; cocoa powder; touch of phenol attributes. Heavy body; smooth and slippery; mild alcohol warmth.

I didn't look before opening, but this beast is 16% ABV. It hides it pretty well, all things considered. The can label states this is a mead barrel aged barleywine. It certainly exudes some unique taste and smell qualities. Perhaps this one wouldn't be for a lot of folks, but personally, I find this beer to be a wondrous creation.

Pouring temperature: 47 °F; canning info: n/a

Poured from a can at fridge temp. Pours very dark brown - almost black. An inch of light brown head appears. The nose is interesting. Very fruity. Lots of honey and papaya. Pineapple, coconuts, apple sauce, red wine, and a bit of booze. The taste is also interesting, but I'm really not picking up much of a barleywine. It tastes more like a heavy rum mixed drink. The mead barrels don't seem to work well with the regular B.A. Baracus. Now that I've had it in the glass for a bit, I'm starting to get some chocolate and maple candy.

It's quite hot on the taste - the boozy 16% is evident. That said, it's entirely drinkable and it definitely isn't the worst beer that I've had!

Well this is an interesting beast. First of all, it's gorgeous. A dark mahogany color topped with a thick, lumpy head. Sweet caramel and toffee up front briefly before a berry notes kick in. It is vaguely strawberry-ish but mostly come across as tart fruit flavored candies. This finishes sweet, vanilla and honey. Overall this isn't really working for me, the berry flavor just doesn't jibe. It does smell pretty darn good though.