Deep red with a beige head. Rich, chewy malts layered over dark, ripe fruit, deep roasted malts, vanilla, earth, oak, bourbon. Full, slick body. Finishes long with a rough bitterness softened by the sweet malts. There are sips that feel like a barley wine, some like an imperial stout, and some an American Strong ale- each brings their own profile but this beer is able to bring them together in beautiful concert.

Opaque deep brown with a perfect beige head. Toast & caramel, oak tannins, dried fruits, vanilla, toffee, floral & fruity hop. Medium dry. Light to medium lingering bitterness. Pretty good.

Bourbon barrel version of this Irish barleywine, bottle shared with Craftmember at Bar Beenhouwer. Frothy and firm, egg-white, slowly receding head on a very dark chestnut brown robe with coppery glow – much darker than average for a barleywine. Aroma of dry caramel, pecan nuts, autumn leaves, soggy toast, rosemary, brown bread crust, vague notes of clove and liquorice in the background, walnut oil, touch coffee, old wood – but the bourbon as such remains very subtle. Dryish onset, dried autumn fruits (blueberries) and figs, softish carb, full and bit vinous body; lovely pecan-nutty, brown-bready and dry-caramelly maltiness with walnutty ‘crust’, the toasty aspect of which pairs well with a firm, leafy hop bitterness in the finish, aided by tannic woodiness and indeed, but only in the very end, a whiff of bittersweet bourbon colouring it all. The alcohol as such, however, remains perfectly hidden in this wonderfully balanced, solidly structured beer – a barley wine with certain Scotch influences, I would say. Brehon never disappoints!