Capataz
Brooklyn Brewery

 

 

 

Clear black to dark red with a moderate but persistent creamy tan head that's quite beautiful.

Taste is smooth (and not medicinal) cherry and grape with pumpernickel and gingerbread via a soft frothy round body that comes to a semi-dry finish with some warming heat. The exhale lifts up notes of red wine and mature dates.

This is quite nice actually, and pretty solid.

On tap at the Beer Station (SC).
Pours clear, dark reddish-brown with a minimal, ephemeral bubbly head.
Clean but otherwise pretty much mediocre until it warmed up a bit.
Smooth, near full body.

 

On tap at Tap and Mallet in Rochester, NY.

This one pours a fairly dark brown color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This smells like dried dark fruit, oak, sherry, tannins, sticky caramel, fruit cake, cakey bread, spice, chocolate, and toffee.

I don't always appreciate Brooklyn, but it's clear they can make a tremendous beer here. They can do barrel aged beers - so why is Black Ops so bad, and why is this so good? The barrel adds a ton here - there's a spicy and warming oak character. The sherry adds a fruitiness, maybe some tobacco, and adding a tannic character as well. There's a sticky sweet caramel character, some toffee, dry dark chocolate, and leafiness. This is crazy complex.

This is medium bodied, sticky and slightly creamy, with basically no booziness. It's weirdly drinkable.

This is absolutely top tier as barleywines go. Hooray Brooklyn!

Had on tap. Pith black pour with a tan head, might be the darkest barleywine I have ever seen. Nose has the sherry omnipresently, while within are aromas of chocolate, wood, dark fruit, and coffee. Taste is very, very sherry strong, if you like sherry give this a try. I like it as a fun changeup in a world full of bourbon ba beers. Great chocolate truffle, dark fruit, barley, candied nuts, slight coffee and wood, and a kiss of orange zest. Feel is boozy, sweet, and viscous, very smooth for a barleywine.

 

As the world of cocktails continues to permeate the craft beer scene, Brooklyn Brewery looks to the ever classy sherry fortified wines to inoculate the time honored barleywine style. The results have transformed the sweeter beer into something much more spicy, dry and bitter than expected.

Deep and rusty garnet, the hazy ale builds a short but creamy beaded crown ahead of a spicy scent of wine and ether with the boldness of stone fruit, coffee, cocoa and booze soaked oak. Sweet and savory, the strong malt components radiate with toffee, caramel, candied almond and sorghum early and often on the early palate.

As a quick transition soon follows, the sweetness turns to a pleasant tar-like taste of prune, raisin, date, fig and apricot while the ale dries considerably to favor leather, oak and weathered cork. Its that unmistakable dry sherry flavor that commands the late palate with strong red wine nuances with hints of chocolate, soy sauce and grape. Bitter, spicy and slightly solventy, the uniqueness of barleywine keeps the vinous tartness balanced and supported.

Full bodied and highly complex, there's something in the glass for each and every tastebud. Heated and numbing on the tongue, the beer's mouthfeel pulls the senses in both directions: the sweet and then the spice. Where one may see complexity, another may see conflict. Such extended age in the sherry barrels may be pushing into world of sherry too far.

 

 

 

Poured a dark copper/espresso brown body with minimal head and lace. The aroma had notes of chocolate, butterscotch, toffee - basically sugary and sweet with hints of vanilla and booze. The beer is velvet smooth and slightly boozy with mostly a candy, sugary sweetness that can be described as chocolate, butterscotch, toffee, vanilla, along with a bready feel and hints of dark fruits. Easy to drink at first but becomes a slow sipper and is enjoyable.

 

 

Tawny reddish brown pour at the Brewery (gotta say it was dark in there) with finger of creamy light tan head. Aroma sweet caramel, toffee, raisins, bread pudding with hints of chocolate. Taste is malty - toffee, raisin, date, brown sugar, again a bit of cocoa and distinct sherry notes. Moderately rich sweet full mouthfeel and a bit of booziness but not as much as may have expected - surprisingly little bitterness. This was absolutely great.