5 Golden Rings - Bourbon Barrel-Aged
The Bruery in Placentia, California, United States 🇺🇸
Belgian Style - Strong Ale Series|
Score
6.59
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5 Golden Rings is the only golden ale in our 12 Days of Christmas series. We spiced up the natural pause in the classic song with cinnamon, allspice, and ginger that play harmoniously with notes of burnt wood and sweet and under-ripe fruit from the time spent in bourbon barrels.
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Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
The fifth beer in the 2020 bourbon barrel aged collection purchased from The Bruery. This 12.7 oz bottle is open and going into a Trappistes Rochefort glass as we speak. The body is a hazy pale gold with a minimal head of small bubbles but the carbonation is almost fierce. I smell yellow fruit, white bread and alcohol. But the point of all this is the drink so I take one. The taste is unique, I have not encountered a brew that is close. Almost ripe somewhat sweet nectarines, malt, a bit of pineapple, spice to some degree, cinnamon I think mostly, a touch of sourness and a pronounced boozy background. I call this one interesting, very drinkable, but not near to being the best of the collection.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Poured from a 750 ml bottle. Aroma is weird with caramel, toasted bread, nutty, biscuit and honey malt notes. Light bourbon and alcohol spice with a hint of oak. Light ginger, allspice, cinnamon, coriander and clove notes. Moderate pineapple and hints of fruity esters. Pours an auburn brown with copper and red hues and a medium sized, slightly tan head that recedes quickly to the edges where it lingers for a bit. No lacing and fairly long legs. Flavor is rather sweet and malty with lots of caramel, toffee, burnt sugar, honey, toasted bread and nut notes. Medium light alcohol spice and moderate bitterness. Medium light bourbon and alcohol spice with light oak notes. Light cinnamon, ginger, allspice and faint coriander and clove. Medium light pineapple and faint fruity eater notes. Mouthfeel is full bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and medium low alcohol warmth. Overall, this beer was better than the regular version and better than expected. It doesn't have as much pineapple or spice notes as the regular version. This tastes more like their regular anniversary ale with a bit of fruitiness and spice.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
750 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 11/20/2013. Pours fairly hazy deep golden/orange/amber color with a 1 finger fairly dense and fluffy off white head with poor retention, that reduces to a minimal ring of lace pretty quickly. Minimal spotty lacing, and a moderate amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big lightly tart/tangy pineapples, peach, plum, fig, date, pear, apricot, red apple, white grape/wine, honey, candi sugar, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, and white bread dough; with lighter notes of caramel, toffee, cinnamon, ginger, peppercorn, clove, allspice, herbal, and yeast/oak earthiness. Mild booze in the aromas as it warms, but not overwhelming. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of pineapples, spices, fruity/spicy yeast, bourbon barrels, candi sugar, and bready malt notes; with big strength. Taste of huge lightly tart/tangy pineapples, peach, plum, fig, date, pear, apricot, red apple, white grape/wine, honey, candi sugar, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, and white bread dough; with lighter notes of caramel, toffee, cinnamon, ginger, peppercorn, clove, allspice, herbal, and yeast/oak earthiness. Light cinnamon, ginger, peppery yeast, bourbon/oak tannin spiciness; and fruit tang/tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of tart/tangy pineapples, peach, plum, fig, date, pear, apricot, red apple, white grape/wine, honey, candi sugar, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, white bread dough, caramel, toffee, cinnamon, ginger, peppercorn, clove, allspice, herbal, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of pineapples, spices, fruity/spicy yeast, bourbon barrels, candi sugar, and bready malt flavors; with a great malt/spiciness and tart/tangy fruit balance; with no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering spiciness and fruit tang/tartness. Medium-plus carbonation and medium-full body; with a very creamy/silky/bready, and lightly slick/sticky/acidic/tangy/tannic mouthfeel that is great. Light increasing warmth of 16.2%, and mild lingering barrel booze after the finish. Overall this is an excellent fruited/spiced barrel aged Belgian strong pale ale. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of pineapples, spices, fruity/spicy yeast, bourbon barrels, candi sugar, and bready malt flavors; smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV, with the mildly spicy/tangy/tannic/drying finish; great soft feel for the ABV. Awesome balance between rich malts/sugars, spices, Belgian yeast, and bourbon barrel presence/integration. Light residual sweetness with lingering dryness. A very enjoyable offering, and well made style example. Significant improvement over the base beer review I did in 2014. My palate has changed a lot since then, so who knows if I would feel the same about it today. This aged really well otherwise.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
750ml bottle pours out copper gold topped with a small head. Nose is big booze heat bourbon barrel vanilla spice and some honey. Taste is more of the nice sweet malts honey spice bourbon barrel notes and plenty heat.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Pours a cloudy copper-amber color with a medium thin off-white head that diminishes steadily to an outer ring. Small patches of lace. The aroma consists of bourbon, fruit, spice and malt. Full-bodied with flavors of oaky bourbon, ripe fruit, cinnamon, earthy yeast and caramel malt. The finish is oaky with a fruit and bourbon aftertaste. Above average overall.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 4.5
750ml bottle pours a hazy amber with some cloudy, white head. Nose is booze and spice, honey comb, mild whiskey, apple brandy. Flavor is hot with booze and cinnamon, honey comb, grappa, brandy. Full bodied, boozy finish. Too much, overdone.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle at the main DC December Gathering. Poured a hazy brown color with an off-white head. Aroma was lots of woody notes, vanilla. Bourbon. Sugar. Booze. I hadn’t had it when it was fresh, but it was holding up pretty well for what I remember the base beer being.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
From a 75 cl bottle at the RateBeer December tasting. Pours a hazy gold with a scant ecru head. Caramel nose. Flavors of butterscotch.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Bottle from Reserve Society, shared at the DC December Gathering #2. Hazy brownish orange with beige head. Aromas of pineapple, bourbon, big alcohol. Tastes of pineapple, bourbon, stone fruit, tropical fruit, caramel. Medium body with a dry finish. Pretty boozy.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Lots of caramel here stone light citrus. Light barrel. Very big and possibly too much, but that’s the bruery things. Lots of booze. Bottle shared at tasting.