Brewer's Reserve Bourbon Barrel Barleywine
Central Waters Brewing Co.

Brewer's Reserve Bourbon Barrel BarleywineBrewer's Reserve Bourbon Barrel Barleywine
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From:
Central Waters Brewing Co.
 
Wisconsin, United States
Style:
American Barleywine
Ranked #18
ABV:
14.3%
Score:
96
Ranked #1,143
Avg:
4.31 | pDev: 8.58%
Reviews:
713
Ratings:
2,526
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 18, 2024
Added:
Mar 02, 2008
Wants:
  728
Gots:
  740
Aged for 1 year in used bourbon barrels.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by martyl1000:
Photo of martyl1000
Reviewed by martyl1000 from Wisconsin

5/5  rDev +16%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
I'm having this at midnight, April 3, 2013. I have four 4-packs I bought last December, sitting in storage at 60 deg. for 4 months.

And either I didn't recognize its greatness when it was new, or this little bit of age made this stuff golden. I'm this close to going back downstairs for another one. Aargh--

Good thing I've got a Weyerbacher Insanity in the fridge . . .
---
UPDATE
This is a "2013", drinking it 11-21-2013, so eleven months of aging.

A clear reddish-caramel in a tulip glass, with very little white head even with an aggressive pour (hence the 11.5% alcohol). Lacing is sparse, but with serious stick-to-it-iveness and dripping legs down the glass.

How I miss this aroma. Brings me right back to snowy April of last year. Bourbon in the nose seems nicely muted compared to my memory of it. I remember the bourbon being pronounced in the aroma. The vanilla, too. Oak and char and melted butter. Simple syrup. Brown sugar and raisin. Yeah, baby.

In the mouth the aging is instantly evident, with the hop bitterness knocked way back (though there's still a ghostly, earthy pine bitterness on the back-end, for sure). The flavor is wonderfully round: soft sugar cookie, ice-cream-caramel swirl, fig and prune, then the bourbon. I put more in the glass, and pie crust fills my nostrils. Plus Juicy Fruit Gum and marshmallow. It's massively toffee sweet, and yet the mild hops and tannins from the oak--not to mention the brightness of the still-respectable boozey ABV--bring balance. It's so huge, it drinks like Dogfish Head 120 minute.

Despite a fairly significant carbonation, the smoothness makes me want to cry. It gives the feel of a super-syrupy moscato di asti. Definitely more an English Barleywine profile, at least after the aging. How astonishing to experience true beer nirvana. I feel like I did two years ago sipping a JW Lees Harvest Ale for the first time.

CW's detractors denounce them as a one-trick (bourbon barrel) pony. Not only is this wrong (duh, Illumination? Exodus? La Petite Mort?). But even if true, this is bourbon-barrel aging at its very best. The barrel aging doesn't dominate, it elevates this brew. I'm looking forward to opening a cellared CW Bourbon Barrel Stout to compare it to their non-barrel aged Brewhouse Coffee Stout I like so much.
----
10/11/14
Ok, so the look of this pour makes me immediately worry this beer has gone bad in the cellar. It's about 22 months of cellar aging, now. And the physical appearance is one of cloudy gelatin, thick and murky, like badly-stirred Knox Blocks.

But the aroma. My God. It makes me want to become a bourbon drinker.

Then, holy bejeezums, the flavor in the mouth. If this was a perfect 5.0 a year ago, it's now punched through the ratings ceiling. What I hadn't perceived before was the red wine tartness, which helps push the butterscotch sweetness skyward.

I'm grinning like a psych ward inmate on chocolate pudding day that I have ten more bottles in the basement.

Heck, yeah.
Oct 12, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.5 by doctorgary from New York

Jan 18, 2024
Photo of Roy_Hobbs
Reviewed by Roy_Hobbs from Connecticut

3.8/5  rDev -11.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
I'm finally getting around to drinking this beer, just short of its 8th birthday (bottled in early 2016).

First impression is favorable, as the glowing amber color on the pour was very enticing, and there was a surprising amount of (admittedly short-lived) head. Aroma similarly impresses with plenty of brown sugar and sweet molasses.

My first impression of the taste & feel is that.....I'm not sure what I think. It struck me as a little watery initially, and the flavor profile didn't jump out at me. As I drink more of it, what I'm noticing is that a) there is more barrel than I was anticipating (and in a good way), and that there is a brilliant alcohol warming on what ends up being a long finish. Much less rich than the aroma implied. Hard to know if the notes I picked up on the nose have faded over time in terms of the taste.

Overall, this is an enjoyable beer.
Dec 17, 2023
 
Rated: 4.25 by Nyoder

Nov 26, 2023
 
Rated: 4.29 by Uconnelmo from Connecticut

May 04, 2023
 
Rated: 4.29 by timmy2b from New York

Apr 27, 2023
 
Rated: 4.34 by Blogjackets from Ohio

May 22, 2022
 
Rated: 4.79 by GregBarleycorn13 from New York

Jan 22, 2022
Photo of dt_gbpackersfan
Rated by dt_gbpackersfan from Missouri

4.13/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2015 bottle
Sep 28, 2021
Photo of bushbeer75
Reviewed by bushbeer75 from Michigan

4.1/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
poured from a 12oz brown bottle – neck has code 25418 – label notched 2018

Bourbon Barrel Barleywine Ale – Brewers Reserve body is a hazy dark brown almost amber in color. A ½ finger kaki head was produced. The head quickly reduced to a collar of foam leaving only spotty lacing. The nose is of sweet caramel, brown sugar, and bourbon. The taste has flavors of caramel, dark fruit, and brown sugar followed by bourbon, then a hoppy light bitter lingering finish. The mouthfeel is a little sticky with a full body and a moderate amount of carbonation.
Overall, this is a flavorful barleywine with its drinkability only limited by its high abv. The Ale makes for a nice nightcap on a cold winter’s day.
Sep 03, 2021
Photo of 5toutman75
Reviewed by 5toutman75 from Illinois

4.45/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
2015 bottle consumed 8/24/21

This is getting up there in age. I always wish I would have tasted one of these aged bottles versus fresh to see what's changed, but I only have the old one. AT any rate, this is an amazing beer. So smooth and complex on the nose and pallet. It's all caramely goodness with tons of booze. But it's so smooth. As usual with these Brewers Reserve, they could be thicker for me in appearance and while drinking. it's not a huge distraction though. A world class beer but not on the level of the very VERY best barleywines for me. There might not be anything better though for the price.
Aug 25, 2021
Photo of chum_husk
Reviewed by chum_husk from Minnesota

4/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
12oz beer review from notes:

A big beautiful overly hopped aromatic beast of a beer. Tastes like an old leather shoe filled to the tongue with hops, malt, rye, booze, tobacco, and leather (more or less in that order).

A+
Jul 31, 2021
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

4.01/5  rDev -7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
16oz can at share. Amber pour, cloudy, thin beige head. Malty aroma, as expected, caramel, toffee and plenty of bourbon barrel. Rich malty taste, woody, tobacco and more bourbon and its prerequisite heat. Smooth and strong.
Jun 30, 2021
 
Rated: 3.33 by AllOfTheCats from Wisconsin

Sep 26, 2020
 
Rated: 4.21 by cozmo from New York

Sep 17, 2020
Photo of The_Kriek_Freak
Reviewed by The_Kriek_Freak from Pennsylvania

4.34/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2017 vintage, aged for 3 years. Super mellow and balanced with just about enough bourbon to add to the complexity of the profile. A very nice Barleywine.
Jun 07, 2020
Photo of Harrison8
Reviewed by Harrison8 from Missouri

4.24/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Pours a dark burgundy-brown with a finger of khaki foam. Head retention is good. Aroma is toffee, raisins, molasses and caramel with toasty, caramely, earthy malts behind. Bourbon adds a little swell of heat, but it's not much. Char cuts the bravado from the initial sweetness, shifting the end of the nose to a rather sharp cutoff. Flavor profile is molasses, fig, toffee and chocolate all dipped into sweet caramel. Toasty, nutty and caramely malts add base while bourbon adds a little tangy heat and substance to the sweetness. Mouth feel is medium-thick with a firm effervescence. Overall, sugary and sweet - sure - but bourbon swoops in to add a drop of heat and enough dryness to soak it all up. Dynamic and flavorful.

Served in a 15.5oz Speigalau tulip from a 12oz bottle. Vintage 2018, consumed & reviewed in 2020.
May 21, 2020
Photo of NeroFiddled
Reviewed by NeroFiddled from Pennsylvania

4.12/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Central Waters Brewing Co. "Brewer's Reserve Bourbon Barrel Barleywine Ale"
12 FLUID OZ brown glass bottle from 2019
$4.79 @ Shop Rite Wine & Spirits, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: It's poured a very hazy deep chestnut colored brown body beneath a short head of khaki colored foam. The aroma is quite rich with malt and oak. It's woody and toasty with some Bourbon and butter cookie notes over medium-dark caramel and crusty bread that's topped with warm nuts and drizzled with molasses. (That actually took me some time to put together, so it's not exactly stream of consciousness.) Wow, what a great aroma... let's see how it tastes... well there's some alcohol to it, that's for sure, and it's not as rich as the aroma suggests. The alcohol cuts through the malt straight away and follows through to a dry, semi-hot finish that leaves some bitterness lingering. So how strong is this? I'm not finding anything listed on the label. Ahh, their website says 13.8% and I can believe that. It's a bit much I think. Back to the taste, there's some raisin, brown sugar, and coconut in there as well. I appreciate that this is not too sweet, but at the same time I find it a little too dry with bitterness (80 IBUs) and alcohol ~ mainly the alcohol. In the mouth it's medium-full and moderately zesty. The head didn't hold up very well, and as you might have expected given that, the lacing was limited. Overall I think it's a decent enough after-dinner sipper but it's not the best that it could be.
Review # 6,992
Apr 09, 2020
Photo of krh
Reviewed by krh from Illinois

4.12/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
I'm probably ranking this too low for the style, but a bit too much for me. Choosing to sit down with this is akin to skipping another cocktail, rather than a beer. Boozy thickness throughout, warms the chest. Just a bit to syrupy for me.
Mar 21, 2020
 
Rated: 4.33 by psweendogg from Connecticut

Mar 18, 2020
Brewer's Reserve Bourbon Barrel Barleywine from Central Waters Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 96 out of 100 with 2526 ratings