Grain Reaper
Springdale Beer Co.

 

Picked up a 2019 bottle today at The Beer Store (Nashua) for $14.00. Label says it's 10.6% ABV.... The BA notes below state "...brewed with locally malted oats..." but my label says "... brewed with locally malted rye...." Interesting...

Poured into a lahge sniftah, it's a slightly hazy, medium chestnut color. Has some miniscule carbo bubbles scattered about heading topside. Head is light-beige, thin and fine. It covers fairly well, though most suds clings to the edge of the glass. Lacing is on the light side, overall. Aroma has a bit of toffee, vanilla, caramel and some bourbon. Body is fairly smooth, with only a smidge of prickle. The body is a decent medium.

Flavor also has toffee, caramel and vanilla, but throw in some black cherry and fig as well. In addition, there's a hint of rye spiciness and some mild bourbon lurking in the background. Decent overall.... Prosit!

4.02/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

2383

 

 

 

 

 

 

From a 2019 bottle that is 10.4% ABV. Sampled oct 30, 2021. Served about 55 degrees.

The appearance is impressive with its aura of reddish, orange, amber hues underneath a tan head and fine clarity.

The aroma is grainy malt forward, a hint of biscuit, a bity more cherry or cranberry sensations, and a low to no booze note.

The mouthfeel is medium and smooth.

The taste is at first sweet with a toffee malt character but then those cherry and cranberry characteristics appear and help the beer evolve into a warming, mellower finish. Two years helped make this smoother I'm sure.

 

L: The color of weak coffee with a reddish tinge, moderate carbonation, but a very brief, thin head head that quickly disappears
S: Bourbon, caramel, and vanilla aromas
T: Toffee, bourbon, rye, light caramel & vanilla with a hint of peppery spice
F: Smooth across the tongue with a mild tingle and a dry spicy aftertaste
O: This is a very light bodied barleywine. Delicious, but not heavy. Very easy drinking and not filling at all. The 10+% isn't noticeable in the taste, but sneaks up on you about halfway through.
Bottled in fall 2019, but I have concerns about how Grain Reaper will age. Don't get me wrong, this is a very good barleywine, I'm just not sure if it has the body and depth to hold up for many more years. Buy it now and drink it soon.

 

A- 375ml pours into an 8oz becher with a cloudy deep amber body. The head is a light nutty tan and arrives at one finger height with a foamy texture. Small sheets of lacing.

S- Sweet malts and the barrel for the most part with heavy caramel, brown sugar and vanilla coming to mind. Candied raisin, a touch of oak, whiskey and toasted malts.

T- The Bourbon picks up quite a bit and some booziness comes out here to cut into the big caramel, brown sugar and moderately high sweetness. Peppery whiskey, oak wood, vanilla, raisin, slight cocoa and nutty notes.

MF- Medium bodied for the style with a foamy texture and a slick oily coating on the palate. Carbonation is fairly high and it finishes pretty hot from the booze.

Hot and intense Bourbon profile to this beast. Spicy dark fruit but mostly about the malts and the barrel.

 

This beer was poured into a tulip.
The appearance was a red/amber color with a sly transparency about it. A small sheet of white foamy head softly dissolved to leave just some wispy concave lace.
The aroma was absolutely amazing! Red cherry sweetness plays with leather, bourbon soaked wood, vanilla extract, some raisin/prune/dates, red apples, light whiff of cocoa powder and some muted grassy hops.
The flavor leaned towards the sweet end throwing all of the prior mentioned aromas together in a wonderful way! Subtle dry aftertaste of leather, red cherries, dark fruits, red apples and some caramel malts.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied with a good sipping quality about it due to some bourbon woody spicy harshness just seemingly sliding in underneath. Good carbonation. Finishes with some leathery dry apples and cherries along with some bourbon woodiness.
Overall, seems to be more of an English barleywine but hey, I'm not arguing, it's still well brewed and worthy of coming back to.

It is a pretty gnarly pour...cloudy reddish brown with very little head.

The smell is awesome. A very distinct apple of the candied variety, brown sugar, bourbon and boozy, hint of vanilla, and the usual round up of dark fruits.

The flavor more or less follows along, maybe not in that order. First sip and I went immediately to apple, but after that there is more to it once it builds up a bit. Oak, bourbon, figs, dates. It is a little heavy on the sweetness especially on multiple sips. It isn't sticky, but it is close. It does have an odd bitterness on the finish, but it isn't obtrusive and seems insufficient to clean up the sweetness and hit the taste bud reset. Medium body at best, mildly carbonated, pleasantly warming.

I like it and am enjoying it well enough. I would call it very good, not great, worthy of a try.

 

 

Brewed with locally malted oats and aged 7 months in ex-bourbon barrels... Reddish amber, translucent body... Aromas suggest molasses and candied apples, maybe some boozy punch... Bourbon and wood assert on the sip, creating a shellacking edge across the bittered and boozed dates, figs, apples, pears, and the like... Light-ish-bodied, a little tacky but noit quite sticky - has a sharp edge but also a fruit coating resinousness to it... Minimally carbonated, sweet with honeyed fruit juice and bourbony vapors... I'm really enjoying it even though it didn't necessarily wow me... Recommended...

Poured from a 500 ml bottle into the test glass
A - Murky backdrop of tanned leather, very little carbonation, a thin ring hangs on the glass wall.
S - Thread of vanilla, oak, toffee, burnt sugar.
T - Follows the nose well, add a bit of cigar tobacco and fig
M - Thin on the palate, sweet and a bit cloying
O - A good barleywine that needs some refinement. The barrel treatment is solid.