Stone The Crow - 2 year
White Elm Brewing Company

Dark, clear brown pour with sediment towards the end of the bottle; opaque dark brown body; thin head, essentially a thin, lasting ring around the edge of the glass interior. Very nice scent; dark grains and chocolate notes laced with boozy aromas. Outstanding taste; milk chocolate; bourbon; a touch of white oak; light tannins; hint of red wine. Heavy body; viscous pour; smooth and slightly chewy; balanced boozy warmth and heat.

No listing for the ABV on the bottle or brewery's web site, but Tavour does list it as 14.0%. Overall, this is a very nice barrel aged barleywine. It doesn't go overboard with the barrel aging aspects, the base beer kind of playing the overall tune.

ABV: 14.0%; pouring temperature: 43°F; bottling info: gold wax
Source: Tavour

 

 

Poured from a bottle at fridge temp. Pours a very dark brown with a thin layer of head. Tons of bubbles throughout. The nose is intense! Absolutely phenomenal. HUGE notes of toffee, which is what I love the most about these big English barleywines. After a minute, notes of port, bourbon, vanilla, peppermint, and slight maple come through. On top of that come figs, prunes, and a slight note of chocolate fudge. Lovely.

The taste is fantastic, but I would say a slight step down from the nose. Here the booziness of the 14% comes through and creates a rough edge around those masterful notes from the nose. The toffee is abundant, but comes with a bitterness. The bourbon seems to dominate over the port here, which is interesting. However, definitely getting some red wine/port notes. Cherries, prunes, vanilla, brown sugar, and maybe a slight solvent note. Still really great.

The mouthfeel is medium bodied, with a slightly boozy aftertaste. Overall, a wonderful barleywine that I wouldn't hesitate to buy again. In fact, I would love to see how this one ages over a year or so.

Very dark opaque brown pour, mushroom colored collar. Super big barley and toast lead nose, booze, port grape, and molasses support. Taste has the port in a musky way dropped into a barley first bba barleywine. Sweet red grape emerges as it warms. Barrel dominated feel, port first naturally given the distinct feel, pretty boozy, burnt sugars and oxidized texture meet the barley and malts. Let this one age

Port. Bourbon. Barleywine. Fuuuuuuk. 500ML bottle for me!

Severely muddy dark red; as much sign of life as a Gordy diatribe circa 2002. What I’m breathing in is pretty weak, mostly red fruit coming off the port barrels. Eh.

Stone The Crow – Two Year lowers the alcoholic boom. YYYeeeeeee. Unapologetic about the 14% ABV, this b-wine puts its fists directly into your brain pan/liver. Bourbon & port futbol to a tie up front. There a stout malty backbone then…booze.

I don’t hate it. To say this is barrel focused is like saying Wham! was an 80s band. Both can be proved scientifically. But, I really like. Both.