Friends & Family
Second District Brewing Co.

Constructive criticism; the barleywine "Friends & Family" lacked the viscosity, diverse malt bill, and aggressive lupulin content- it simply felt like a poor lager contrary to the fact that the beer was apparently conditioned on bourbon soaked vanilla beans (totally unnoticeable attribute, mind you). I would suggest building a strong base recipe before you thin out the body with spirits.

really neat beer here, one of my favorites from our visit to the brewery, a vanilla barleywine that i feared would be way too sweet, but isnt at all. lighter in color than expected too, a pale copper color, not too viscous, and without a big head on it, light looking for what it is. the smell is great, fresh rich vanilla, boldly dosed, and sweet caramelized grain sugars, but still lighter on the spectrum than a lot of these, which i think lets the vanilla really come forward. subtle toasted bread and english ale yeast notes here too. the flavor is very vanilla forward, so authentic, evidently brewed with the good stuff. its as flavorful as it is aromatic, but its also just one element in a pretty dynamic brew. the flavor of the grain is fantastic, with some maple sort fo sweetness and a raisiny fruitiness. lighter body is nice, and the alcohol is super will hidden, this drinks dangerously easy for being so strong. i really like the way the vanilla brings out some of the grain flavors, and i think this is a really polished recipe for a brand new brewery. very impressive, they were all great in here.