Flying Mouflan - Bourbon Barrel-Aged | Tröegs Brewing Company

4.25/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

4.03/5  rDev -6.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

2017 Vintage
Pours a decent fizzy bubbly but smaller head that retains fairly well a little messy lacing and decent legs, super dark mahogany color opaque

Nose starts with nice base barleywine, lots of dark fruits, raisin, a little fig/date, even a little candied prune, dark toasted and caramelized malts, candy malt, some toffee and caramel, mild spicy hop in the background, barrels are really light with a little vanilla and butterscotch, bourbon eventually comes out a bit more as it warms

Taste comes on a bit sweet but not too much, candied flavors coming with more toffee and caramel, sweet perceived Maillard caramelized sugars, mild fruits but not as much as the nose, a little raisin, and fig/date notes, a bit of an aged slight oxidaized brandy character and touch of papery, barrel bringing mild vanilla and butterscotch again, and similar to the nose no real bourbon until it starts to warm it flashes in there, toasted biscuity malts, a hint of cocoa and darker malts, mild spicy hops, alcohol is hidden fairly well until it warms, mostly just on the throat, then as it warms a bit more alcohol on the mouth with the bourbon character, a drier but slightly sticky finish

Mouth is med to fuller bod, bright carbonation maybe a bit more than I wanted for a beer like this, not much alcohol until it warms, a touch sticky but not syrupy

Overall eh, base barleywine is nice, good malts, nice hops for American version, I do like the aging effects with brandy and dark fruits, but it did give a touch of paper, the biggest problem I have is lack of barrel, which adds mild characters from the barrel but very little bourbon

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4.19/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

4.74/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

Poured a dark red/amber. There is some vanilla and bourbon aroma. The flavor is outstanding. Well balance of a host of flavors -- molasses, chocolate, vanilla and brown sugar. The bourbon is only slightly detectable but it works very well.

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4.13/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

12.7oz corked & caged bottle into a tulip. bottled 11/8/17, so 6 months old.

dk red body with amber notes. small pale tan head with good carbonation.

very little in the aroma department, just a faint woodiness.

however, the taste department is very good indeed. slightly bitter, chewy, mild bourbon, molasses, slightly sweet. warm.

mouth between medium and full. finish a bittersweet warmth.

overall, very nice BBA American Barley Wine. no one element dominates, nicely balanced.

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4.34/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

2017 bottle.
Moderate pour yields a 3/4 inch light tan head over a dark brown-mahogany body with some lacing. Nose of raisins, caramel, vanilla, and chocolate. Taste of chocolate, caramel, molasses, vanilla, and dark fruit. As it warms a sort of cherry liqueur flavor comes forward. Yum! Nice feel and overall, I really liked the base Flying Mouflan but this is next level. Cheers!

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4.09/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

4.31/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

1.9/5  rDev -55.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 1 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Pours a deep caramel, thin whispy lace, mild carbonation. Aroma is not good on this one - there are some wimpy notes of cheap bourbon, driftwood moss, sweet malt that clashes with the earthier aromas, viney hops. The result reminds me of an antibiotic I used to take as a kid but can’t remember the name of. Very disappointing.

The taste is a little better but still a misfire. Whatever barrels they used imparted a ton of wood flavor - if I had looked down & saw wood chips actually floating in the beer I wouldn’t have been surprised. The bourbon is low shelf, fusel and raw tasting. There are some hops too which add some musty cardboard flavors towards the back palate, along with some german malt that never comes to life. Finishes dry. I love base Flying Mouflan, and was a huge fan of the regular oak-aged version, so I was shocked how badly the bourbon version misses the mark. Troegs is consistently solid so maybe this was just a bad batch but it was a huge letdown in my opinion.

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4.06/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I picked up a 2017 vintage 12.7oz bottle at Tröegs on 01FEB18 while in the area for a Battle of the Bulge re-enactment. Weighs in at 11.50% ABV and set me back %13.00. Safely back home, time to give it a try....

Poured into a Smutty snifter, it was a clear but dense, chestnut/mahogany color. The color is really seen only at the edges and when backlit. Head is a scant covering of fine, beige bubbles, with light lacing. Nose has some caramel, toffee, charred brown sugar and dark fruit. The body is about a medium, perhaps a smidge more... And the feel is über smooth, with rather light prickle.

Flavor also has some brown sugar, caramel and toffee. Has a hint of dark fruit, rum, some tobacco, and earthy hopping. Bourbon action is barely detectable, as far as my palate can tell. Not bad... Nowhere near as good as the regular Mouflan, imo... Prosit!!

4.06/5 rDev -6.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

1998

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4.21/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Bottle at the brewery.

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4.46/5  rDev +4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.21/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

3.5/5  rDev -18.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

4.25/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

3.83/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

4.25/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

4.49/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.5/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.48/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

4.25/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

4.43/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

2016 Vintage.
12.7 oz bottle poured into a snifter.

Appearance
Deep chestnut brown with ruby highlights. Short head dissipates quickly.

Nose
Toffee, caramel, tobacco, leather, earth, cocoa, oak, and vanilla.

Taste
Toffee, caramel cubes, vanilla ice cream, and white oak. Tobacco, leather, earth, and candy sugar. Hints of cocoa nib. There is an underlying orange cream and grapefruit juiciness that add a lot of character.

Mouthfeel
Medium-plus bodied, silky, smooth, and warming.

Overall
A excellent barrel aged Barleywine! The oak tastes fresh and adds a lot of vanilla bean flavor. I got this at the brewery for $4.50 / bottle in a mix pack. Excellent price!

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4.21/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

cool to try the barrel aged version of this. i always sort of considered the original to be more of a huge imperial red than a barleywine in the traditional sense. it neve quite gets as deep and dark and layered as some of the classics, and there is definitely a nice hop to it, so it always seemed a bit of an oddity as a barleywine, at least to me. the bourbon barrel treatment here sort of brings it back into that more traditional barleywine realm, with the sweet and woody and vanilla and honey notes from the whiskey barrel adding a ton of depth to the already hearty and rich deep amber caramelized grain base. its dense now, more nuanced, sweeter, and plenty mature. lots of flavor here, dried fruit, brown sugar, molasses, a bready yeast and still a bit of hops. as much wood as whiskey here, surprisingly mellowing for a beer thats up over 13% abv, hard to imagine its so strong, drinks a whole lot easier. this must have spent a fair bit of time in the barrels, it has really transformed this. i have always loved troegs, but it seems like lately they have stepped their game up in a big way. this is really remarkable beer, suitable for indefinite ageing i am certain...

edit: this is ageing really well too, a little soy to it now, but an even mellower alcohol presence. its awesome stuff, just be sure to share, man this thing can put even seasoned beer drinkers to bed!

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4.39/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

4.47/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5