Mantel
Fox Farm Brewery

 

 

 

Appearance: Pours pitch black with a fast fading film; leggy, but no lacing

Smell: Charred black bread, molasses and Rye whiskey predominate; hints of chocolate, toffee, oak and vanilla

Taste: The Rye whiskey dominates from the outset with the charred black bread and molasses flavors also being pronounced; underneath, the chocolate, vanilla and toffee add some sweetness but dont break through in a meaningful way

Mouthfeel: Full bodied with low carbonation

Overall: Interesting beer but, as much as I like Rye whiskey, I prefer a more complementary rather than dominant approach in my barrel-aged beers; I don't think blending a stout and a barley wine has worked particularly well here as the barley wine elements are overwhelmed

 

Batch 1 - bottled in 2021

Appearance is a straight-forward dark brown / black with a small amount of dark tan head. Not much lacing, but decent legs.

Rye, booze and barrel work well with the sweet malts on the nose. Very nice smelling.

Taste has a really nice barrel char thing going on. Less sweet than the nose, but I still get some raisin / fig notes on the long finish,. The booze is there, but not overwhelming. Nice and thick...coating the mouth thoroughly.

Overall, this is excellent.

500 ml bottle, Batch No. 2, 2024

Pours lack in color, dark tan colored head that fades. Aroma of oaky, earthy whiskey, dark chocolate, a bit boozy as it warms up. Similar taste, I get mostly stout flavor,just a thinner body is all I get from the barleywine. A little average at fridge temperature UT then as it warms it opens up with more depth of flavor. Sticky mouthfeel.

Great dark color. Not much head.

Sweetish smell.

Not very good. I know the bottle says barleywine, but also referred to as a stout.

Way too sweet and funny flavored.

Not enjoyable.

 

Sampling a 2021 bottle picked up at the brewery from release. Been in my cellar since then. Tonight is the night to open as our my daughter's soccer team won their game today. So time to celebrate!
The beer pours a black coffee color with no light passing through the glass. A fizzy beige head foams up about .5 cm and fades to nothing very quickly after the pour. No lattice, but there are some legs on the glass when I swirl.
Aroma on this beer is bold with dark chocolate, toffee and a good dose of whiskey. Only a little black peppery note hints at the ABV of 14.8%. No hops present anywhere.
First sip reveals a medium to thick body with very fine and tingly carbonation. Texture is sticky and coating my palate on each sip. Physically the part of a bigger beer.
Flavor is rich and malty with molasses and toffee mixing with some brown sugar, dark chocolate and a bit of charred wood. Whiskey comes through on the finish and lingers, but it is flavor based, not fusol heat. Although I do get a bit of warmth in my belly. No hop character anywhere.
This is a big beer that does favor sipping a bit. Quite a complex flavor profile and Im enjoying this one, and probably will over the next hour or so. Happy I finally opened this bottle!

Pour at de Garde 10th Anniversary. Newar black pour with a thin beige head. Aroma is dark malts, notes of chocolate, brown sugar, drief leaves, pit fruit and tobacco. Taste is a delicious blend of figs and prunes, chocolate, peat, vanilla, oak and leather. Nice full feel and slick body Creamy.

2021 vintage (released in 8/2021); consumed on 1/26/2023

Pours a velvety, midnight-black body capped with a finger and a half of silky, hazelnut-hued foam; decent head retention yields a spotty few mounds of temporary cap, a large, creamy collar, and no lacing holding to the walls of the glass.

Aromas open to a heavy layer of rye spice with accents of black bread and a pointed char; toasted oak softens to burnt vanillins split with hints of ethanol as plummy esters reveal themselves over time.

Taste finds milk chocolate upfront enmeshed in rye spice as a dark fruit reduction courses beneath the mid-palate, while hints of marshmallow already edges by a slight dark cocoa note on the finish.

Mouthfeel offers a medium-full body and minimal carbonation; silky textures meet a slightly tannic barrel structure through the mid-palate as a heavy warmth/boozy pang builds to a creaminess on the back end.

Rye heat is fresh at the forefront, engaging a supplementary roast to peaks of pointed malt spice and occasionally gritty barrel; prominent alcohol presence leaves edges, though the blend itself remains largely cohesive.

 

Thanks to Roy_Hobbs for this one, from NBS BIF #15. 16.9oz bottle (Batch 1, 2021) poured into 14oz teku. Poured a solid black color with a thin cap of tan head that immediately dissipated, and left no lacing.

The aroma was a wee bit confusing; a touch of rye and wood from the barrels, some toffe-ish sweetness from the Barleywine, some roast from the stout, and some solid alcohol heat.

Similar on the tongue, with all those aspects combing together nicely, and not being as independent. The heat did linger at the end a bit more than in the aroma.

The body was, as one would expect, full. It was smooth, with a sweet finish that the alcohol heat helped balance.

Drinkability was very good, especially for a heavy hitter like this.

Overall, a very good brew, one I wouldn't mind having a couple bottles of to see how a year or two would affect it. A must-try if you can.

Rating #3900!

500ml bottle with black pressure cap. Batch 1 / Vintage 2021.

poured into Durobar Charente with SP light bulb logo.

Appearance: Black bodied stout. Light brown colored head that pours a thick cap of head almost 1 finger tall with a hard pour at fridge temperature. Head quickly drops to minimal head & just a ring of foam around the outside of the glass.

Smell: Big pleasant rye whiskey notes. Woody & spicy. Smells slightly boozy and warming.

Taste: Big rye whiskey. Big caramel and brown sugar with a hinting of dark fruits that are mostly prunes. Intense dark chocolate / bakers cocoa vibes... & roasty malts. Leathery, tobacco, molasses, and dry oak with lighter barrel char / smoke note. A really complex & big in your face blend of stout and barleywine in rye whiskey barrels. Finish is dark chocolate, rye whiskey, dry oak, leather and caramel.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied barrel aged beer. Low yet adequate carbonation levels. Texture is more sticky sweet than it is thick. This pushes the boundary of warming booze and being a robust but smooth barrel aged beer. The rye spiciness also dries the beer out quite nicely.

Overall: You can really smell the Witch Meadow in this blend that is Mantel. This is a really nice blend of stout and barleywine aged in rye whiskey barrels. I drank Witch Meadow recently and have drank a Copestone a long while ago and it was really good as well. I can recognize both beer threads of the stout and of the barleywine... and for the most part they play together fairly well. I will say that you have to love rye whiskey to enjoy this blended barrel aged beer. It has a really aggressive rye whiskey barrel presence and I really enjoy rye whiskey. So this is right in my wheelhouse!

 

 

 

Mantel 2021 from Fox Farm. Received from @Roy_Hobbs in BIF #14. 500 mL capped bottle. Stored at home at 38 degrees. Reviewed 23/12/21. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Stamped on end of label “BATCH NO. 1 2021”. Served at 62.4 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 65.3 degrees.
Appearance – 4.25
First pour – Amber Brown (SRM 18), clear.
Body – Ruby Brown (SRM 24), opaque. When rear-lite, same but ruby at edge.
Head – Average (Maximum 2.2 cm, aggressive center pour), brown sugar turning mostly buff, average retention, diminishing to a four to five mm crown fed by effervescence and a thin complete cap.
Lacing – None, but that’s no surprise at 14.8% ABV.
Aroma – 4.5 – Chocolate, roasted malt, brown sugar, no hops, no yeast.
Flavor – 4.5 – Sweet but not cloying. Taste follows the nose with some spice (rye) as well, but becomes slightly bitter as it warms, no hops, no yeast. A hint of dates appears. No ethanol (14.8 % ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma. Mild gastric warming. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4.25 – Full, approaching syrupy, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4.5 I let this get a little too warm, but it is still delightful – it goes well with the snow outside. Sweet and warming with excellent flavor and nose. As it further warms toward the end of the bottle, the alcohol puts in a bit of a poltergeist appearance, rattling around my hard palate but it’s too late to scare me away! A stout and barleywine mix, you say? Excellent overall!