Barleywine Appreciation Thread (2022)

Figured I would drop a b-wine in here. Been doing other tastings, but its time to share something here now. This is River North (Denver) BBA Bucket of Bolts (12.9%). Beer is courtesy of @evanforbeer , Thank you!!

onto my review:

Excited to add this beer to the BA DB! This is a 2021 vintage from release 1 from a batch of 99 cases.
This beer is in a 375 ml bottle and is being poured at cellar temp into my snifter.
The beer pours a clear mahogany color with some deeper ruby highlights on the edges of my glass.
A fizzy khaki colored head of .5 cm foams up and is gone almost completely by the time I get a picture of the glass! Higher ABV, so this is passable, but it is rapid.
Aroma is malt forward with caramel and brown sugar mixing with some fusol alcohol and a little bit of a fig note. Not any real hop presence here.
First sip reveals very fine tingly carbonation wrapped in a fairly thick and sticky textured package. The beer coats my palate and leaves sticky residue on my lips. Feels like a nice big boozy barleywine!
The flavor is sweet and malty up front with caramel, brown sugar, a good dose of bourbon and hints of vanilla. This moves to a bit of black pepper and bitey alcohol. The booze lingers a bit on the swallow with some general bitter note and warmth down my gullet.
No hop character here, but this is a sipper. I wonder what this would be like in 365 days? Its pretty nice and I enjoy it now, but the fusol booze is a little young. Worth a buy if you like big boozy barleywines!

 

Im back with another barleywine. Because its the weekend, so why not! This beer came from @brutalfarce during BIF33 NFL. Easiest Sports BIF ever! Loads of great beers! Anyway the beer is Revolution Brewing Strawberry Jacket, a 13% BBA English Barleywine conditioned on strawberries. Spoiler alert, it totally works! Two posts in a row, maybe this becomes a beer-off with @DIM ?

Onto my review:

Pouring a cellar temp 12 oz can into my snifter. Can filled June 26, 2021
The beer pours a clear chestnut hue with some lazy streams of carbonation rising to the surface. There is a creamy beige head of 1 cm that fades to a sturdy edge layering soon after the pour.
Aroma is caramel and brown sugar with some bourbon notes and light fruity strawberry jam, not artificial at all, which is nice.
First sip reveals a medium body with soft and smooth texture. Carbonation is on the soft side with gentle rolling feel across my palate. Not nearly as boozy syrupy feeling as I thought I would get from this texture.
Flavor is sweet for sure, but not cloying or candy-like. I get brown sugar and bourbon with a bit of vanilla playing with a strawberry flavor. Again, not artificial or overpowering, definitely tastes like a dessert in a bottle. No real hint of the ABV either bite or warming, which is probably a little dangerous, but I also appreciate the ability to hide 13% ABV!
Very glad to have tried this one and would definitely drink it again.
4.4 in the BA DB

 

Bringing it back with a Connecticut brewery barleywine. Nod Hill Repeating Trajectories an 11 % ABV english barleywine. Cool Fact, brewery is a 100% solar powered! Its been birthday party day for my youngest, so I planned to do another B-wine tonight, but may simply cash out and live to fight another day!
Liked the way that Maple Jacket sounded @DIM !!

Onto my review:

Sampling a 12 oz beer can poured at cellar temp into my snifter, no canning date or other date stamping.
The beer pours a clear mahogany color with some rich ruby highlights, making the beer sit with a bit of a crimson color. A dense creamy khaki colored head of about 1 cm. This foam fades to some wispy islands and thin edging that sticks around through the sampling. Dense clingy lattice forms as I take each sip.
Aroma is some toffee and caramel with a bit of tobacco and charred wood too. Some slight peppery booze comes through, but there isnt any hop characteristics.
First sip reveals a medium body with slightly sticky mouthfeel, and soft rolling carbonation. Feels good on my palate.
Flavor is briefly some malt notes of toffee and brown sugar and then this rolls to tobacco and some spicy black pepper bite and dries out with a bit of astringency on the finish No warmth, but the peppery notes seems boozey related to me. I also dont get any hop character on the flavor profile.
A pretty solid english barleywine that drinks easier than its ABV.
4.28 in the BA DB

 

Well all the children have finally fallen asleep so that drama is over and its time to reward myself! No responsibility until French toast chef for breakfast in the AM.
Lets do this! 2020 vintage Bombs Over Barley Port Barrel Aged 12.6% b-wine from Barreled Souls.

Onto my review:
The deets:

Sampling a 2020 vintage of this beer in a 500 ml bottle poured at cellar temp into my snifter. Beer was picked up at the brewery in October and has been in my cellar since then.
The waxed cap is a bit tough to pry off, but I get it done. The beer pours a deep mahogany color with almost no light passing through the glass. Only some rich garnet red shows on the edges of my glass.
A fizzy khaki colored head of 1 cm foams up and fades to an edge layer shortly after the pour.
The aroma on the beer is rich with malt complexity. I get caramel and toffee mixing with molasses and some brown sugar, a lot of red grape note and some leather notes. Dont get the leather very much in beer but its clear to me here.
I also get a bit of fusol alcohol and zero hop character. Nose is very nice.
First sip reveals a medium to thicker body with very very fine carbonation that gently tingles across my palate. Texture is sticky and coating with a slightly syrupy feel.
Flavor is similar to nose with lots of malt notes, including brown sugar, toffee and the red grape note. I also get some maple syrup that I didnt note on the nose. Generally the flavor is sweeter, but not candy like. I do get some boozy bite on the finish but no warming on the swallow. The lingering red grape and port character carries me to my next sip.
Quite a nice barleywine and the port barrels have left quite the beneficial impression on the beer IMO.
4.43 in the BA DB