Syndicate No. 1
Speakeasy Ales & Lagers

Syndicate No. 1Syndicate No. 1
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From:
Speakeasy Ales & Lagers
 
California, United States
Style:
American Strong Ale
ABV:
10.5%
Score:
93
Avg:
4.25 | pDev: 6.82%
Reviews:
11
Ratings:
54
Status:
Retired
Rated:
May 31, 2017
Added:
Dec 06, 2013
Wants:
  13
Gots:
  12
100% Bourbon Barrel Aged Vintage Ale:
51% Old Godfather Barleywine aged 26 months
15% Black Hand Volume 1 Imperial Stout aged 13 months
14% Two Minutes to Midnight Imperial Stout aged 12 months
11% Betrayal Imperial Red Ale aged 12 months
5% Double Daddy Imperial IPA aged 12 months
3% Payback Robust Porter aged 18 months
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by brentk56:
Photo of brentk56
Reviewed by brentk56 from North Carolina

3.9/5  rDev -8.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Appearance: Pours pitch black and features a beige head that leaves sporadic lace

Smell: Caramel, chocolate, and a hint of vanilla.

Taste: Roasted dark malts, and chocolate, from the stout and rich caramel from the barleywine; a nice blend between the two

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with low to moderate carbonation; surprisingly thin

Overall: A nice hybrid that makes you wonder why more brewers don't try this
Jun 06, 2016
More User Ratings:
Photo of LiquidAmber
Reviewed by LiquidAmber from Washington

4.24/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque in the glass with a fine one finger light brown head with great retention and thick lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, bourbon, milder influence of dark stone fruit and hops. Flavor is dark toasted malt, bourbon, plums, oak, milk chocolate, mild caramel and a slight tartness and aged hops in the finish. Medium bodied with good mouth feel. A well made strong ale. At this stage in its life, the stout and porter are the dominant flavors, but the fruit from the barleywine lightens the dark malt. I regret not trying this right away as the hops have faded to a dull bitterness with little herbal quality and I'm not getting the intended influence of the IPA and red ale components. Still a flavorful, big and classic American strong ale that has held up to aging very well. I liked this a lot and will try the next iteration on release if the new owners revive this series.
May 31, 2017
 
Rated: 4.19 by Kurmaraja from California

Jan 19, 2017
 
Rated: 4.22 by DanGeo from Michigan

Mar 31, 2016
Photo of Donco
Reviewed by Donco from Pennsylvania

4.46/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
I received this bottle via trade as an "extra". Thanks to my CA trading friend! This one really surprised me and in a good way (based on previous reviews).
The beer pours with a bit of a lacing and close-to-black appearance.
Poured into my trusty tulip glass, I was greeted by the unmistakable smell of bourbon and chocolate. Totally surprised in that I would be hard-pressed to distinguish this smell from that of BCBS. Really nice!
Then a few sips and the semi-BCBS comparison continued. Very bourbon-forward and just a bit more back-end bitterness than BCBS. But extremely enjoyable.
Another difference is that this brew is somewhat more carbonated and cuts the inherent sweetness of the bourbon.
Bottom line: I really enjoyed (or am in the process of enjoying while I write this) this retired blend from Speakeasy. If you can locate a bottle it is highly recommended.
Jan 09, 2015
 
Rated: 4.25 by wethorseblanket from California

Nov 06, 2014
 
Rated: 4.84 by Two40addict from California

Oct 22, 2014
 
Rated: 4.56 by mychalg9 from Illinois

Oct 07, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by spycow from Illinois

Sep 28, 2014
 
Rated: 4.15 by brotherloco from California

Sep 27, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Soto from North Carolina

Sep 22, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by CaptainFleeker from Illinois

Sep 09, 2014
 
Rated: 4.56 by BobbySRCA from California

Aug 30, 2014
 
Rated: 4.3 by Shaimless from Oregon

Aug 19, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by OMsweetOM from California

Aug 17, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by drewone from California

Aug 01, 2014
Photo of kaseydad
Reviewed by kaseydad from California

4.36/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Already consumed a few of these through the months....time to review.

Pours an almost black brew with a nice sized beige foamy head that laces all over the place.

The aroma is great. Barleywine sugars flow alongside the chocolate/cocoa whiffs and some marshmallow. Caramel and brown sugar round it. out. Really nice smelling brew.

The taste is a hybrid BW and Stout. I get all the combos going into this, but the predominate flavors are the BW and stout. Not a ton of booze here even the ABV is big. More BW flavors are present, but overall this is a great blending brew. Nothing off-putting.

Silky mouthfeel. Chewy and big.

Overall this was a fantastic step into the blending series for Speakeasy. They really nailed it as I can attest to (luckily) drinking a half dozen of these. The blends work well especially for the number of brews combined to form this. Somebody knows what they are doing there and I look forward to #2. Very good beer!
Jul 20, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by zestar from California

Jul 20, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by PG2G from California

Jul 19, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by dleiner from New York

May 11, 2014
Syndicate No. 1 from Speakeasy Ales & Lagers
Beer rating: 93 out of 100 with 54 ratings