We Don't Rat, We Don't Run
Noble Beast Brewing Company

Figuring I may not last 25 years to test the limits it claims, I cracked this 2020 b1. Delicious as the first one we had in 2020. I’ll check in with our other 2020 in another 5 years.

Having this beer on tap at the brewery. Served in a sniffer glass, this beer draws a clear, extremely dark amber color with a ringer phone lighting. The inside of the class refers to drawn and served. Not much lacing, but that is OK. Aromas of toasted caramel malts along with dates, plums, a bit of alcohol, a touch of butterscotch. No discernible hop aroma here at all whatsoever. The taste is very similar, with all the aforementioned flavors nicely present and excellently balanced. And, again, no discernible hop flavor at all whatsoever. A bit odd for the style of beer I suppose. But it works very well here as a matter of fact. Has a slightly crisp, somehow also smooth, syrupy, sticky, medium to full bodied mouth feel with minimal to moderate carbonation. The mouthfeel is absolutely perfect for the style of beer. All of the flavors linger very nicely on my pallet, indeed for quite a while after each sip. This is a very good fucking beer!

2025 Blend

Delectable and sophisticated, like a fine wine. Cola-caramel sweetness balanced by nuanced oak barrel and grape, with dark fruits and hints of bitter hops.

2024 blend. An insane barleywine. lots of maple syrup, which overrides the base barleywine taste. Good balancing to thebitterness.On tap at the source.

2023 Blend! Sweet brown sugar and toffee, dark fruity plums, butterscotch and anise, and a woody oak-barrel nose on this one! Taste follows with those dark fruity plums and brown sugar notes upfront, and then a red wine grape and oak-barrel, boozy finish. A touch thin, but good!

 

The appearance starts slightly chill hazed garnet, clearing up to pure clarity as the chill settles. Essentially headless, WDRWDR looks like a glass of bordeaux, but for a few tiny, clear tan bubbles leaning against the glass. It's quite gorgeous through indirect sunlight.

Smell contains much brighter than expected notes of red grape leaning lightly into sherry nougat and caramel, even verging into a sort of red currant mead character.

On the palate blossoms lightly tart notes of plum and currant within the more traditional dark fruit characteristics. Then some significantly peppery char and date interplay with a faint touch of toasted pumpernickel.

Its fine but firm fizz glides into a rounded but medium body, lifting a warming fume that brings up a touch of vanilla oak after the semi-sticky finish. It'd be overall sweet but for an aftertaste that creeps in with a bitter burnt note, which I'm not quite clear whether its from the oak or the malt. The body rounds out more as it warms.

They took the wine part of barleywine VERY seriously...this is so wine-like it's truly grapey, kind of like sherry, and not quite tart but it kind of gives off a tart vibe in flavor. The label encourages aging for up to 25 years, and I imagine that some of the brighter notes here will subside to the darker oak qualities, but unfortunately I don't have any more of these teeny tiny bottles to find out.

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In the summer of 2024, I finally revisited this beer with their latest vintage, discovering that it's experienced an absolute sea change of mature complexity. Peppery merlot, molasses, prune, spiced date--it's a bold but nuanced barleywine that's also almost quad-like. It's certainly got far more body than b1, and is even slightly viscous.

To be honest, I was pretty generous with my 4.27 score back in 2020. This is way better than b1. By miles.

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At Cleveland's Winter Warmer in March of 2026, I was fortunate enough to be able to try the 2021 vintage, which exhibited delicious caramelly vanillins.

While a little sweet, the Cow Tales were in good suggestive measure, and not necessarily sugary, before also giving maple blueberry pancakes and chocolate cherry Dark Lordyness without the raisins, unbelievably.