Old Numbskull - Bourbon & Rye Barrel Aged

Amber, with a slight haze. Thin head. Lots of rye, some piney, resinous hop, with woody, vanilla and chocolatey accents. On the palate, the vanilla stands out a bit more, but the hops and rich toffee malts also show through a fair bit. The rye takes a back seat, but still slides into the finish. Strangely a coffee note both on the nose and the palate but how did that actually get in there. The way that the barrel puts a distinct character on top of a rich well-hopped barley wine is great; the rum was similar in the barrel effect. I have no idea how Numbskull lends itself to high quality treatment, but Alesmith do have an exceptional barrel program and they've figured it out.

16 oz. can, pours a dark amber brown with a small beige head. Aroma is potent on the hops, some cocoa, coffee notes, big bourbon, and some spicy rye. Flavour is potent, with big coffee, big hoppiness still there despite the time in barrels, some spicy rye, wood, and gentle bourbon-y vanillin character. Quite a unique expression of the beautiful base beer. Lovely.

473mL can. Pours clear brown with a beige head. Loads of bourbon and rye barrels, hops coming through, brown sugar, and dried fruits on the nose. Flavour has a great base, loads of dry malts, brown sugars, dried fruits. The barrels come through great: sweet bourbon barrels and dry rye barrels, excellent character from both. Barrels are very well incorporated with the base. This is excellent.

Pint can pours with a murky mahogany colored body that supports a light tan head of foam. The aroma offers up caramelized malts, modest vague hop bitterness, plum like dark fruity esters and then spicy rye booze. The taste delvers smooth malts heading quickly into spicy rye booze and spicy to pine like hoppiness. It becomes increasingly sweet to midway as the oak and bourbon bubble up to the surface. Toward the finish the booziness comes forward and helps finish the experience. This is a great sipper.