Iron Furnace
Jackie O's Taproom & Brewery

 

 

 

12.7oz bottle dated 2024 poured into a snifter at fridge temp 13.6% ABV per label. The beer pours pitch black with some brown highlights when back-lit. The head is meager at best and forms a pencil thin ring with no lacing. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring dark chocolate, vanilla, bourbon and toasted oak barrel. The taste is bittersweet roasted malt with a delicious blend of maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, bourbon and oaky barrel. Medium bitterness. The feel is medium plus bodied with just less that average carbonation and a semi dry finish. Perfectly balanced with the alcohol and oak countering the sweet adjuncts. Overall, excellent.

 

 

Pours an effervescent chestnut/mahogany with one pinky of fast falling mocha colored head. Near zero head retention & lacing, very viscous

S: Tons of dark fruit, treacle, maple syrup, some Red Wine & barrel; helluva nose!

T: Follows the nose, a little prune, dark cherry, Pipe Tobacoo, a little leather & dried salted plums up front. Maple candy, brown sugar. plums, oaky notes, leafy hops & barrel dryness, plus a little fig, prune & dark cherry as this beer warms up. Finishes oaky with plenty of Maple Syrup, some dark cherry & plums

MF: Chewy body, super-low carbonation, pretty warming, very sticky

Classic English Barely Wine with some barrel & maple thrown in, a sipper for sure

Didn't do it for me unfortunately

Pours a very dark murky brown, almost as dark as a stout. Very few bubbles, but a ring does remain.

Smell is good old barleywine. Brown sugar, malt, dark fruit, prune, plum. Slight vanilla, spice, oak dryness as well.

Taste follows, nice sweetness. No bitterness.

Feel is syrupy.
Very nice, looking forward to mother of all bricks

 

Iron Furnace from Jackie O’s, 12.7 oz bottle. Received from brewery 05/04/23. Reviewed 13/04/23 (Review 3073). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Printed on the label “2022”. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Served at 57.0 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 59.9 degrees F.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Medium Amber (SRM 12), clear.
Body – Brown (SRM 30), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear lite, shows a translucent ruby at the edges.
Head – Small (Maximum six mm, aggressive center pour), wheat, low density and fizzy, quickly gone leaving a complete 1 – 2 mm ring of tiny bubbles.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 4.25 – Sweet; caramel malty, no yeast, no hops. No bourbon barrels but maybe some brown sugar. No ethanol (12.7 % ABV as marked on the label) aroma.
Flavor – 4.5 – Moderately sweet with caramel malt. Initially no hops or yeast. Distinct maple flavor. Weak bourbon barrel, mostly on the aftertaste. Moderate gastric warming. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4 – Medium; approaching syrupy; soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4.25 Very nice! Licking the thermometer after checking the temperature reveals a slightly sour ending before it reaches the desired temperature range. After 57 degrees F, this sourness is not detected. If I were not using a chain saw later today, I’d have another bottle!

A - Deep brown pour that's almost black in color with soapy, bubbly light caramel colored lacing. Lots of thick legs on the side of the glass.

S - Brown sugar, Bourbon, maple, and light oak char.

T - Brown sugar, maple, oak, Bourbon, light vanilla, and a delicate amount of char.

M - Thick and light syrupy that leaves a sugary residue on the lips with a slight bit of warming in the back of the throat.

O - This is really well done = recommended.

 

2023-03-12
375ml bottle served in a curvy Fremont glass. Looks like it might be 2022 vintage, no other date info that I see. Received from @blogjackets in a care package.

Pours very dark -- dark molasses in color, with almost no head on the pour, although a thin ring eventually grows. With movement, there's a little bit of noticeable carbonation, very very fine and very slow. Looks thick. Can't tell if it's clear or cloudy, it's too dark. Smell is rich dates and toffee, hint of coffee and chocolate, definite maple sweetness.

Taste is strong on the date and maple side. Sweet, but not as sweet as some of Fremont's BA barleywines, despite the added maple and brown sugar. Some raisin, a little vanilla, some oakiness. Booziness is dangerously muted for a 12.7% abv beer.

Mouthfeel is thick, heavy, but not sticky or oppressive. Satisfying. Overall, this is very good.

fobab 2021.

Bottle pour - opaque darkness with minimal khaki head leaving barely a ring of tiny bubbles. Nose is sweet with brown sugar and maple over some dark stone fruit and barrel wood. Taste follows more or less with an emphasis on sweet that lingers on the finish with a bit of warmth and alcohol creep.

Bottle says 2021. I'm drinking on 20230121. It's wicked sweet. I barely detect the maple, as in if it weren't mentioned I wouldn't notice it at all. Everything is overpowered by the brown sugar sweetness. I barely notice the barrel aging. This is the antithesis of the standard American Barleywine. Though quite a bit sweeter than the standard English Style, it is still within the range of barleywine, and I find it a welcome respite from the overhopped American style everything. Ever had a hoppy stout. I have and it's the dastardliest thing you can imagine.

Thanks to whomever sent me this 375ML bottle as I always appreciate more Jackie O’s. Someday I will bathe in it. No I won’t. What a waste that would be.

The nose is sweet, likely the reflecting pool of brown sugar, that bowls over whatever else lurks beneath. Dark brown with sparse signs of life.

Iron Furnace tumbles over a cliff into numbing sweetness. Avalanche of brown sugar obliterate everything – no b-wine, no bourbon, no syrup. Just like sticking my face into a bowl of brown sugar water.

Big disappointment. No balance or barrels or, really, any type of recognizable beer. Poor, poor beer.

I am pouring a 2020 bottle at cellar temp into my snifter.
The beer pours a dark cola brown color with almost no head, only a light surface cover of beige foam that quickly fades to the thinnest of edge layer.
Aroma is big and robust with dark malts, dark cocoa, big bourbon notes and generally boozy. I also get a good dose of brown sugar and some maple syrup too. Not really any hop character on the nose.
First sip reveals a medium body and very fine, gentle carbonation. Texture is a little sticky and I do get some coating on my palate and lips when I take each sip.
Flavor is big and malty with brown sugar and bourbon mixing with a bit of dark chocolate and here I do get some black peppery booze bite on the finish. There is also a little bit of an oxidized note in the middle, that doesnt stick around much and is overshadowed by the brown sugar. Again, no hops at this point either.
The beer drinks pretty easy and the booze is peppery but not hot or warming after the swallow.
I am glad I tried this one and could see it being sweet for some tasters, but I enjoy it. I do wonder if the maple would be more dominant in a newer batch?

How on earth is this rated so highly? Pours flat. This is flat vanilla Coca Cola mixed with maple syrup. I should’ve listened to other reviewers’ warnings on the sweetness. I’m a fan of Jackie O stouts, but this beer falls on its face. Especially at the $$$ price point.