Fourth Press
Private Press Brewing in Santa Cruz, California, United States 🇺🇸
Brewed at/by: Santa Cruz Mountain BrewingStrong Ale - American Series
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Score
7.65
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Blend of Barrel-Aged Barleywine Ales and Stouts.
Fourth Press is Private Press’s fourth anniversary blend and is inspired by the convergence of barrel-aged stouts and barleywine-style ales. The blend started with a barrel that held Third Press for an additional 12 months, and then I added two barrels of stout to form a milk chocolate base. I wove in a barrel of Belgian Quad and two barrels of barleywine, creating tones of cherry cordial, cinnamon, and brown sugar toffee. Finally, I filled a fresh Heaven Hill barrel with the Fourth Press blend to be used next year in Fifth Press.
Blend (PPB-4Q301):
Third Press (barrel #286) aged 12 months in Smooth Ambler barrels
DeJohnette (barrel #293) aged 12 months in air dried Heaven Hill barrels
Mahavishnu (barrel #314) aged 27 months in Willett Family Reserve barrels
Moulin (barrel #335) aged 10 months in Frenchlick Spirits Rye barrels
Hubbard (barrel #378) aged 10 months in Willett FR sour mash barrels
Hubbard (barrel #379) aged 10 months in Willett FR sour mash barrels
2024 Release
Fourth Press is Private Press’s fourth anniversary blend and is inspired by the convergence of barrel-aged stouts and barleywine-style ales. The blend started with a barrel that held Third Press for an additional 12 months, and then I added two barrels of stout to form a milk chocolate base. I wove in a barrel of Belgian Quad and two barrels of barleywine, creating tones of cherry cordial, cinnamon, and brown sugar toffee. Finally, I filled a fresh Heaven Hill barrel with the Fourth Press blend to be used next year in Fifth Press.
Blend (PPB-4Q301):
Third Press (barrel #286) aged 12 months in Smooth Ambler barrels
DeJohnette (barrel #293) aged 12 months in air dried Heaven Hill barrels
Mahavishnu (barrel #314) aged 27 months in Willett Family Reserve barrels
Moulin (barrel #335) aged 10 months in Frenchlick Spirits Rye barrels
Hubbard (barrel #378) aged 10 months in Willett FR sour mash barrels
Hubbard (barrel #379) aged 10 months in Willett FR sour mash barrels
2024 Release
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8.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8.5
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
Toasted sweet fruity with notes of dried fruit shred, molasses, cocoa, nice body and mouthfeel, rich bourbon into the nice warming malty finish. Lovely.
Tried
from Draft
at
Peders - Pisserendens ølkælder
on 20 Dec 2025
at 15:08
8.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8.5
Flavor 8.5
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Sample during "Farm Fest 2025 (Friday VIP)" on 07/04/2025. Brown-black pour with a medium thin beige head that diminishes quickly to an outer ring. Sparse patches of lace. Aroma of oak, bourbon, malt, chocolate and fruit. Full-bodied with flavors of bourbon, oaky vanilla, chocolate fudge and dark fruits. The finish is oaky with a bourbon and roast malt aftertaste. Very good all around.
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Jul 2025
at 19:20
6.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Dark brown, light brown head. Very boozy nose with straight up alcohol burning my nose hairs,roasted malt and other things underneath but this really isn’t good. Pretty simple very boozy. Man this isn’t that great some caramel and chocolate notes are rede
Tried
on 27 May 2025
at 03:47
8.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
Bottle, 500 ml shared with MiroB and JFK10000. Almost black with beige head. Burnt caramel, toffee, some chocolate, vanilla, sweet, dried fruit. Bourbon.
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 Dec 2024
at 06:13
8/10
Bak alcohol zeg, cacao, chocolade,
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Oct 2024
at 13:10
7/10
keg at beer temple ...dark black ..thin tan lacing . soft sweet caramel toffee fruit ..rich thick sweet sticky mslts ..heavy roast
Tried
on 22 Sep 2024
at 12:35
7.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 9
Tap at BeerTemple, 12th September 24. Pours black and thick. Aroma of roasted malts, chocolate and caramel. Taste is rich, potent, lots going on a bit sweet, but decent
Tried
from Draft
on 21 Sep 2024
at 15:13
7.4/10
Super boozy, but too sweet for perfection. Everything other than the sweetness is pretty top notch. The booze shines through and they tried to mask it with long chain sugars. Beer temple ams
Tried
on 19 Sep 2024
at 21:06
8.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Keg at beertemple. Pours black, nose is berries, raisin, caramel, coconut, vanilla, taste is similar, sweet, a little piney.
Tried
on 18 Sep 2024
at 15:43
8.9/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 8.5
Bottle. Keep the series alive! Pours deep mahogany, medium beige-tan head, good lacing. Rich aroma of dark roasted sugars, oak tannins, barrel char, dark chocolate, with hints of vanilla and toasted coconut. Flavor is pretty sweet, light plus bitter, rich and luxurious. Full body, creamy mouthfeel.
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 May 2024
at 20:09