Prisoner at the Crossroads
Varietal Beer Company

Looks like this was brewed in 2021, aged in a blend of bourbon and rye barrels for 18 months, and bottled late 2022. There is an extremely satisfying lightly charred toffee and raisin foundation here. I also get some vanillin, Kings syrup, brown sugar, and prickly, rye whiskey goodness. The finish adds biting oak that is just a touch hot.

Based on other reviews, it seems that time has served to mellow this nicely. Very glad to have tried this, thanks Ryan!

Poured at fridge temp. Pours a dark brown with a very thin layer of head. The nose is really nice. Toffee, plums, raisins, rye spice, vanilla, bourbon, and a hint of maple candy.

The taste is definitely on the boozy side, but not over the top. The rye barrel really comes in strong here. Nice spicy backbone. Black pepper. Oak, burnt toffee, vanilla, honey, and some dark fruit. Really nice. Perhaps a tad sharp at this high of an ABV, but I like it quite a bit!

Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a nice oak and toffee aftertaste. Long finish.

Pitch brown body, tan ring. Smell: oxidized prune, date, barley, dry earth, dry oak and bourbon. Big rustic barley, wheat, earth and char meet caramel malt, date, and oak, though as it warms the booze gets stronger on the finish. Feel is very dry and has bitterness from barley and hops that is felt more than tasted. Medium bodied and warm with booze sharply

Sampling a 500 ml bottle at cellar temp poured into a snifter. The bottle is a 2022 vintage. Bottle was received in the spring and has been in my cellar till tonight.
The beer pours a clear chestnut color with ruby highlights. A dense creamy khaki colored head of 1 cm foams up from the pour and fades to a sturdy edge layer. I do get scattered lattice when I take a sip or swirl my glass.
Aroma on this beer is quite malt forward. Im getting brown sugar, dark fruits such as plum and raisin, I also get some toffee and bourbon notes mixing with hints of vanilla. No hops on the nose. Not fusol or hot aroma either, even at this higher ABV.

First sip reveals a medium body with sticky texture that coats my lips and very fine gentle carbonation. checks the boxes for a bigger barleywine on the physical traits.
Flavor is similar to the nose advertisements. I get bourbon and brown sugar up front, this yields to some toffee and raisin notes, but the bourbon kicks back in again on the finish. I still dont get any heat or peppery booze nor any hops.
A pretty good barleywine that I am drinking pretty quickly as I work through my glass. Glad to have tried this one.

 

Taster flight at Bridge & Tunnel. Copper colored pour with a few stray bubbles. Aroma is malty, toffee and bourbon. Taste addds fruity notes, plums, figs, dates, rich toffee malts with some nice velvety bourbon notes bringing it all together.

 

My first beer from Varietal comes in a 500ML bottle capped with white wax & a convenient rip-top. Split with my wife.

Let’s talk about the wax, first. At least nine ounces of thick, impenetrable, irritating, teeth-gnashing crap on top. Why? WHY? The rip-top didn’t work. Stupid. The pour is very dark red with only minimal floating bogs of bubbles. The nose is ripping booze with a touch of plum.

Prisoner at the Crossroads is right fire. Right grain alcohol scours the palate & prevents infection going all the way down. Mild plum & toffee interact with the booze, which murders both. A three ounces sample would have been excellent.

Not good. Scathing fire runs over whatever complexities might lurk within & ends up an exercise in “how much booziness can I swallow”. Sub mediocre.