Barrel-Aged Barleywine
Mountains Walking Brewery

2022 bottle poured at fridge temp. Pours a gorgeous dark brown with basically no head. The nose is amazing. Dark toffee, bourbon, vanilla, figs, bread pudding, sherry, slight smoke,

The taste is so insanely smooth. Bourbon, toffee, figs, prunes, light smoke, malts, vanilla cream, light apple note, honey, and a touch of maple. This is dang good. The barrel is strong on this one, but it's definitely not too sweet. The best of 2026 so far!

Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a wonderful aftertaste of toffee pudding.

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a dark orange red with ruby notes and a thin khaki head that dissipates to patches with light lacing. Aroma of dry caramel malt, fresh and dried plums, raisins, dates and woody oak; faint citrus. Flavor follows, with caramel malt, fresh and dried plums, raisins, dates, bourbon, woody oak and hints of mixed fruit. Medium bodied with moderate creaminess and nice mouth feel. A very solid, flavorful barleywine that is mostly of an English profile, although it does have some fresh fruit character to liven it up. Good bourbon and woody barrel notes. This is a two year old bottle and has held up nicely and would probably age well for more years. Enjoyable and well done. Only thing I've ever seen from this brewery with a very evocative name. I'll try more if I ever run across them again.

500ml bottle picked up at Big Head's in Missoula, MT
Poured into an Imprint Belgian-style tulip

P deep chestnut w/ some murkiness; no head- just a bubbly off-white ring
N fairly bold notes of bourbon, toffee, and fig; inviting
T toffee, fig, vanilla, barrel, and sweet bourbon, dashed with a touch of tobacco and other dried dark fruit; balanced sweetness; really good
Mf med-bodied w/ soft-med to med carb
O a complex, yet drinkable barrel-aged barleywine; definitely has more English elements than American; nicely-done, regardless

Review date: 02.16.24
Bottle date: Sept '22

Received a 500 ml bottle via trade with @muchloveforhops3 on 10-25-23. 2022 Edition; consumed 2-16-24. Thanks Doug!

Beer poured reddish brown with a smallish tan head that dissipated quickly,

Nose is nice with notes of vanilla, maple, and bourbon.

Taste is a large malt base with slight notes of brown sugar, dates, and prunes up front with maple, vanilla, and bourbon on the backend. Finishes slightly sweet but the barrel gives balance with a nice warming.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and fairly smooth.

Overall a solid BA Barleywine that strikes me as more English than American.

2022 release. Pours a lighter orange-copper, translucent. Some bright florals and wildflower honey on the nose, relatively fruity for a barleywine. In that sense, I'm not sure if this really fits an American or English barleywine profile. That said, it's an enjoyable beer. It reminds me a bit of Cambridge Brewing Company's barleywines aged in Sauternes and other wine barrels (Arquebus?), strong fruity notes and some chardonnay buttery-ness and minerality. I'm more inclined to rate to overall impressions rather than to style, so beware this is not a typical barleywine.

My first beer from this brewery & possibly from the entire state of Montana, which I have sadly never visited. 500ML bottle.

The pour is a clear red, but so dark one can’t see through it, which is a neat trick, with very little bubbles. The nose brings brown sugar, bourbon. Good things.

Mountains Walking Bourbon Barrel Barleywine is simpler than a Three’s Company plot. Most of the taste revolves around fusel alcohol. Hot, slightly spicy in an unfocused/Chrissy kind of way, not in a loving, rye kind of way. A touch of brown sugar, vanilla, wood, but one has to concentrate to tease out the wisps of each. Should have shared this bottle.

Confirmed: it’s beer. Just beer.

Opaque brown body, tan cap that fades into a ring. Taste centers on big toffee accented barley, with notes of bourbon, golden raisin, orange, dates, and vanillin laden oak. Nose is more oxidized version of taste, very similar like a reflection in a rippling pond. Light, bright, almost rich, dries out. New world barrel and old world English BW combine well. The wife loved it

Clear, dark copper body; coarse carbonation; flat top with no appreciable head. Heavy caramel sweetness with notes of honey and light brown sugar; woody booziess. Massive flavor of caramel and candi sugar; maple syrup; boozy; vanilla. Heavy body; smooth and oily texture; robust residual sugar feel; mildly sticky; slight alcohol warmth.

I've generally raved about Mountains Walking beers yet this beer, while nice, just lacks real distinction. It's very heavy across the board. The lack of head is disappointing plus the intense overall sweetness verges on the cloying.

Pouring temperature: 42 °F; bottling info: BOTTLED MAR '22 BOTTLE