Mirror Mirror
(has 2 batches)
Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon, United States 🇺🇸
Barley Wine - Barley Regular Out of Production|
Score
7.47
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As part of the Reserve Series, the brewers discovered some "lost" barrels hidden in the back corner of the warehouse. They set aside this special 100% barrel-aged version of Mirror Mirror for occasions such as the Holiday Ale Festival. Lucky you!
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6.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
22 oz bottle, 2014 edition. Pours a deep dank orange brown. Citrusy grape and caramel aroma. Flavor mixes medicinal cherry, dark cherry, grape wine flavors with citrus, caramel, and a lightly toasted biscuit note. It doesn’t really work for quite a while and is honestly kind of hard to drink. It gets better after a while, but the wine notes still feel too medicinal and sharp. I know this has a "best after" date in 2015; at the moment, though, it’s a bit off.
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 May 2014
at 20:33
8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
5 oz sampler in a snifter @ 38 Degrees Alehouse, Alhambra, CA. 2014 issue - I understand it’s aged in wine barrels. Murky brown color. Beige head. Aroma’s: sweet fruit (notably banana), caramel/toffee, notes of (white?) wine, light umami. Ratronasal there’s additional oak. Flavor is moderat sweet, woody, caramel. Alcohol well hidden. Medium bodied. Finishes woody and moderate bitter. Lovely!
Tried
on 20 Apr 2014
at 14:22
7.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle - Vintage 2009 - Dark candy sugar and sweet barrel vinous notes with a bit of oak. Cloudy orange with a thin beige head. Nice sweet caramel, alcohol heat and a soft sweet finish. Nice and mellow.
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Jan 2014
at 19:04
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
The infected 2009 Vintage gets a 2.7. The aroma is difficult to describe. There is some remnants of malt character with light caramel and toffee. There is a moderately strong phenolic note similar to anise. Some alcohol spice as it warms. Medium low fruit esters of tropical fruit and rotting stone fruit. Pours a cloudy burnt amber with some ruby and brown notes. Moderately thick tan head that recedes fairly quickly to the edges. Faint lacing and medium legs. Flavor starts with some nice sweet malt notes that you would expect from a barleywine: caramel, toffee, toasted bread. Some light raisin and cherry notes also. Mid palate the alcohol heat sets in along with moderately strong bitterness and a moderately strong phenolic note. The phenolic note is clearly from the infection and ruins the finish of the beer. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium high carbonation. Medium low astringency and medium high alcohol heat. Infection seems to have thinned this beer out quite a bit as well. Overall this is not a good beer. I will revisit this one if and when they release a new batch as I think the infection worked negatively for this beer. Sometimes infections bring fruit, sometimes phenolics; this one brought phenolics and it doesn?t work. Oh well, nice of the very to have given refunds for these bottles. Rating is for the 2014 vintage. Aroma has lots of caramel, toffee, burnt sugar and some lighter treacle. Medium fruit notes with figs, raisins, prunes and other dried fruit. Light alcohol spice. Light herbal and resinous hop notes. Flavor is fairly sweet with quite a bit of caramel and burnt sugar. Some lighter toffee and treacle notes. Medium to medium high bitterness. Medium light hop notes with some herbal and resinous notes and some lighter grapefruit. Light alcohol notes. Mouthfeel is medium full bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and medium low alcohol warmth. Overall, a way better beer than the infected ’09. Still a solid step below a world class barleywine though.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Jun 2013
at 21:27
6.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Bottle as shown. Pours a cloudy amber with small beige head. The aroma is roast, vanilla and oak. Medium mouthfeel with sweet roasted malt and vanilla with nice oaky finish. A very good barley wine from Deschutes.
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 May 2013
at 16:04
6.9/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
2009, brown bottle, 1 pint 6 ounces, best before 04/20/10, from and with Luc Bourbonnière (merci!), savoured on January 11 2012; eye: brown with a light reddish hue, hazy, minuscule ring of beige head, no lacing; mouth: malt, caramel, medicinal, slight fruity, light hops, finale in spices with malt presence, medium body, not much carbonation, lightly bitter, lightly sweet, slick texture; overall: fine FRANÇAIS 2009, bouteille brune, 1 pinte 6 onces, meilleure avant 04/20/10, de et avec Luc Bourbonnière (merci!), savourée le 11 janvier 2013; œil : brune avec une légère teinte rougeâtre, voilée, minuscule anneau de mousse beige, pas de dentelle; nez : malt, caramel, médicinal, très léger fruité; bouche : malt, caramel, médicinal, très léger fruité, léger houblon, finale en épices avec présence de malt, corps moyen, peu carbonatée, légèrement amère, légèrement sucrée, texture coulante; en résumé : bien
Tried
from Bottle
on 24 Mar 2013
at 06:21
5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 3
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5
A hazed reddish amber ale with a thin mocha head. In aroma, a sweet vinegar malt with light bilous notes, garbage, bad. In mouth, a sweet malt with floral hops, pure sugar, off notes, overall, sad and disappointing.
Tried
on 24 Jan 2013
at 19:17