Barrel-Aged Oil of Gladness
Dark Horse Brewing Co. in Marshall, Michigan, United States 🇺🇸
Collab with: 3 Floyds Brewing CompanyBarley Wine - Barley Rotating Out of Production
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Score
7.05
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Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
6300th review! 12 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled on 11/27/2017. Pours nearly opaque very dark brown color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and rocky light khaki head with awesome retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, apricot, raisin, plum, fig, date, cherry, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, molasses, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, smoke, char, leather, tobacco, herbal, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/earthy/pine hops, fruity yeast, bourbon barrel, and dark/bready/light roasted malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, apricot, raisin, plum, fig, date, cherry, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, molasses, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, smoke, char, leather, tobacco, herbal, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate pine/herbal/spicy hop, roast/char bitterness; and bourbon/oak spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, apricot, raisin, plum, fig, date, cherry, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, molasses, dark/brown bread, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, smoke, char, leather, tobacco, herbal, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/earthy/pine hops, fruity yeast, bourbon barrel, and dark/bready/light roasted malt flavors; with a nice malt/bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness balance; with minimal acrid/astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from hop/char bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/silky/sticky/tannic, and lightly chalky/resinous balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Mildly increasing warmth of 11%, with no barrel booze lingering after the finish. Overall this is an awesome barrel aged American barleywine. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/earthy/pine hops, fruity yeast, bourbon barrel, and dark/bready/light roasted malt flavors; very smooth and easy to sip on for the big ABV; with the modestly bitter/tannic/drying finish. Didn't find it any better than the base beer. From a flavor standpoint it's very similar, with the added standard vanilla/toffee/oaky barrel complexity. Feels more bitter, charred, and drying from oak tannins; a bit lighter on body. Still really spot on for the style. Very well balanced and complex on hops, yeast, and malt flavors; with great barrel presence and integration. A really enjoyable offering.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
On tap at Hopcat A2. Pours near black with a creamy brown head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has sweet dark grains, toffee, bourbon and a light caramel underlying. Flavor has a good amount of bourbon with dark grains, toffee and caramel supporting.