Bottle sample at a tasting at Yoav's place. Brown. Oak, vanilla, somecoconut, malt, caramel, a bit of oxidation, sweet, some alcohol, rounded, quite thick. Very good.

Dark mahogany brown colour with quick fading head. Aroma and flavour have intense sweetness of dried fruits. Raisins and sultanas and prunes. Flavour has some dark malt sweetness. Background coffee.

Slodkie, niezbyt zlozone, karmelowe, kandyzowane, rodzynkowe, cialo nieszalencze... pilem lepsiejsz haggery, wiec moze przez to nie do konca zachwyt? Ale i tak bdb+

Blended barleywine aged on red wine barrels, from what is probably the most interesting craft brewing project in Austria, and part of an ongoing series apparently. Bottle from Geers - wrapped in paper (an ironic nod to the 'brown paper bags' used by alcoholics especially in the U.S.) with a cord; the neck then is covered in blue wax, of the thickest, toughest, most obnoxious kind I ever encountered (it took me a strong and sharp knife and about fifteen minutes of messing around with it before I could comfortably remove the crown cap underneath) - point off for that, because I hate it when wax stubbornly sits between me and my beer... Anyway, medium sized, thick and creamy, pale greyish beige head, slowly opening and dissipating over a dark chocolate brown, hazy beer with ruddy, vermillion reddish hue (looking suspiciously dark for a barleywine, in fact, but then I guess 'dark barleywine' is a thing these days?). Intense, boozy and complex bouquet: walnut liqueur and lots of it, clear 'oaky vanilla' and even old furniture, candied figs, yellow raisins, tawny port, chestnut purée, candi sugar, brandy, caramel cookies, Belgian chocolates, toffee, full-bodied Syrah wine, shoe polish, kahlua, wood glue, stewed pear. Sweet onset, strongly brown-sugary, tad sticky even, fruity aspects of candied dates, figs and raisins, very light umami touch somewhere as well as a slight sourish undertone; softish carbonation, full, vinous to even syrupy body. Caramel sauce- and walnut liqueur-like middle with a brown-bready core, caramel cookies and peanut butter hints, drying tannins in the end combined with a strong, port- to even brandy-like booziness, warming and hot but luckily not becoming annoyingly astringent (at least not too much). Light herbal hop bitter touch, too, but this caramelly, nutty and cookie-ish maltiness and sweetness remains the core business here, while some solventy aromas rise up retronasally - mingling with a much more elegant, clear vanilla-like oak wood scent. Could do with a bit more refinement for me: somewhat less sticky sweetness would enhance drinkability, and the booze could be toned down a bit too, or at least better masked. Quite sweet and dark-malty for a barleywine, too: feels more like a barrel aged quadrupel. That said: an intense, complex, multi-layered dessert beer in all respects, that seemingly benefited from some aging as well. Note sure if I would pay the same steep price for another bottle in this series, though...

Veel te duur voor wat het is