BBB
Carlyle Brewing Co.

Appearance: light brown/ amber red color. Light bubbly head on the pour. Low active carbonation.

Smell: toasted vanilla, warm bourbon, and a great barley body. The bourbon notes are very well done adding a potent yet balanced burn.

Taste: big bourbon front that warms the palate and yields to a wonderful body of vanilla, molasses, alomonds, and barley. The body is filled with strong barley tones that comes in waves on the palate. Finish is some dry bourbon sting and some fruity hops.

Mouthfeel: full bodied, carbonation could be a tad more present but not a big deal. Bourbon continues to dance on the palate.

Overall: awesome offering from Carlyle. Not a huge fan of their regular barley wine but it took extremely well to the barrel. Bravo

Poured into a sampler glass by the barkeep at Carlyle.

Appearance: medium brown bodied beer with little ring of tan head. Translucent beer with a red hue when held up to light.

Smell: bourbon barrel forward. Lots of bourbon and oakiness. Lots of carmel malts and brown sugar sweetness. Fantastic nose.

Taste: Just like in the nose this is a bourbon barrel forward beer with the exception of being able to get a nice taste of the base barleywine, Defroster. Moderate amounts of bourbon, oak, vanilla notes. Caramel and toffee malts. Hint of brown sugar. Mild kick of hops that just offer some bitterness without any discernable hoppy flavors.

Mouthfeel: medium almost full bodied beer with low carbonation levels. Fairly smooth drinking at all most 11%. Just a mild bite of booziness.

Overall: I havent had many barrel aged offerings from Carlyles, so this was a must try when I just happen to swing in to Carlyles tonight. I have never been a huge fan of the base beer Defroster, but I thought that it has potential for greatness with barrel aging. It met and even exceeded my expections! Great effort by Carlyles and I would also add that its a HUGE improvement of the Defroster barleywine that Carlyles brews.

BBB is their Defroster barleywine aged in bourbon barrels for 3 months.

A - Nut brown, clear, moderate carbonation.

S - Bourbon kick in the face. Vanilla, oak, alcohol, with some caramel and sugar poking through. Perfect.

T - Bourbon-heavy, much more than I expected for 3 months of age. Bourbon takes charge, with slight alcohol burn. Sweet, maybe a bit too sweet. Defroster doesn't stand up well enough to the bourbon, but it does make for a tasty duo, but some balancing would do this wonders.

M - Sticky, big beer. Very warming. A sipper if there ever was one.

O - Worth getting; moderately inexpensive, delicious, and gives you your BBA fix.