Cereal Killer: Bourbon Barrel-Aged
Arcadia Brewing Co. in Elk Rapids, Michigan, United States 🇺🇸
Barley Wine - Barley Rotating Out of Production|
Score
7.55
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We’ve taken our English-style barley wine and aged it in Bourbon barrels for 12-18 months, where it undergoes a transformation into a more complex, layered ale with structure for years. Hazelnut-claret in color, it pours syrupy and raises and off-white head. The aroma reveals scents of nutty malt, pralines, toffee, and hints of milk chocolate. The flavor follows suit, but brings to the forefront a bold Bourbon presence, rounding and full-bodied. Sip this fine, rare treat at cellar temperature (around 50F) to allow the full malt and Bourbon complexity to come through. Winner of the Gold Medal for Wood and Barrel Aged Strong Beer at the 2009 GABF.
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7/10
Tried
on 12 Apr 2020
at 22:13
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
12 ounce bottle into snifter, 2017 vintage bottling. Pours hazy dark reddish brown color with a 1 finger dense cream colored head with good retention, that reduces to a thin lace cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the lace cap. Aromas of huge caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, coconut, bourbon, toasted oak, brown bread, raisin, plum, fig, cherry, date, red apple, and red grape; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, molasses, rum, leather, tobacco, sherry, red wine, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/bready malt, fruity yeast, and bourbon barrel notes; with big strength. Taste of huge caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, coconut, bourbon, toasted oak, brown bread, raisin, plum, fig, cherry, date, red apple, and red grape; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, molasses, rum, leather, tobacco, sherry, red wine, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness. Light herbal hop bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, coconut, bourbon, toasted oak, brown bread, dark fruit, cherry, apple, light chocolate/cocoa, rum, leather, tobacco, sherry, red wine, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, fruity yeast, and bourbon barrel flavors; with a nice malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Slightly increasing dryness from bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness. Light-medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/silky, and slightly slick/sticky/chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is extremely well hidden; zero warming alcohol or barrel booziness lingering after the finish. Overall this is an awesome barrel aged English barleywine! All around excellent complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, fruity yeast, and bourbon barrel flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV. Definitely an improvement over the base beer, but not by a huge margin. Pretty much perfectly balanced fruity yeast and malt complexity. Awesome bourbon barrel integration; never boozy, tannic, or overly drying. A really enjoyable offering, and spot on style example.
Tried
from Bottle
on 31 Oct 2017
at 20:28
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Sample from 2011 bottle during Blarney Wine Festival 2017 on 03/18/2017. The beer is a cloudy reddish-brown color with a medium light beige head that diminishes steadily to an outer ring. Strings of lacing on the glass. Aroma of bourbon, malt and dark fruit. Full-bodied with flavors of oaky bourbon, figs, caramel malt and yeast. The finish is oaky with a bourbon and malt aftertaste. Pretty good overall.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Mar 2017
at 15:36
7.9/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Sample at Ale Alpharetta, brought by Drew. Cloudy, reddish brown, with a thin head. Big nose of vanilla and bourbon, butterscotch, pine, caramel, and oats. Very sweet, with a nice touch of bitterness. Heavy body, harsh, sticky, and thick. Nice, heavy, and incredibly flavorful beer.
Tried
on 18 Dec 2014
at 20:51
8.1/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
(Thanks Chris "Budznsudz") Bottle. A- Bourbon, chocolate, caramel, malty, oakey, sweet. A- Dark red black color, dark liquid, off white head. T- Bourbon, chocolate, cherries, red wine, caramel, vanilla. P- Full body, sharp texture, mild carbonation, smooth finish with a slight bite. O- My first barely wine. This one had been aged for over a year and a half. I think the aging definitely mellowed this one out. Wow, was this good. Reminded me of sipping on Jim Beam. The flavors blended extremely well and everything about this just screamed drink me.
Tried
from Bottle
on 16 Mar 2014
at 07:34
9.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 10
Texture 8
Overall 10
Bottle sampled at a tasting. From notes. Vanilla, oak, bourbon, dark fruits and chocolate. Awesome.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Oct 2013
at 19:10
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle. Ruddy orange-brown body, thin off-white head. Hot nose with notes of bourbon, oak, raisin, and caramel; alcohol prevalent. Oaky, soft body with layers of caramel, toast, and bread, finishing with warming alcohol notes. Yum.
Tried
from Bottle
on 03 May 2013
at 21:26
7.5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 9
12 ounce bottle, red wax dipped thanks to Beau. Pours a mostly clear dark mahogany color with a small beige head. A big woody bourbon nose. Dark fruit, tobacco, flavors of vanilla, wood and bourbon, some heat, earthiness. Quite good. A big beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 17 Jan 2013
at 23:04