22oz waxed bomber from Kujo9, thanks man.
Very encouraging upon the pour, with a blossoming dark tan head that clings to the sides of the glass, but does recede rather quickly otherwise, on account of the barrel-aging. But the lovely thing, is that this is unfiltered, with a large, chunky layer of sediment (though thorougly left in the bottom, thank you very much). Dark brown body is rich and with deep, deep milk chocolate and garnet tinges.
The nose is full of bourbon, but yet, not stinging, astringent/heavily tannic notes, but rather, oily wood, sweet caramelized character and almost sweet-like rich coconut notes. Certainly it does dominate, but it’s so delightfully overdone that I can’t help but smell it constantly while there is still liquid in the glass.
The flavor shows restraint with the bourbon, or at least, the supple malts are fudgey and well used to balance the strong barrel character. Texture is a little edgy, with some lightly harsh alcohol and tannins, but otherwise, the silky, creamy malts take care of things. Carbonation is low, not terribly tight, but then, it shouldnt play a factor. And one more thing, I’m not rating this as a schwarbier, just more against a barrel-aged stout/experimental beer.

2004 bomber generously given by Kujo and shared with SuIIy on 4/23/06.
Impressive carbonation levels for a 2 year old barleywine. Very large, off-white head is foamy, well-retained and provides light bits of lacing. Color is a strong, auburn-red, very crystal malt driven, with a high clarity, no sediment on bottom, seemingly filtered and force carbonated.
Aroma is heavily bitter hops, not overly aromatic, just dry citrus and some strong pine resin. This spikes up at first and is combined with moderately hard crystal malt that seems to have softened with 2 years, bits of caramel sweetness and noticeable munich malt sourness that seems to grab at the nostrils rather violently. Strong yeast bi-products due to the high gravity; fruits, vanilla and corn. It all adds up as to overload the nose, rather dry, bitter and sharp, though the alcohol is not too fierce for this level. Caramelly, with dry peaches created from the munich malt, caramel sugars and fruit esters, leading to some redeeming aroma complexity, but ultimately it’s just dry note after dry note. Strength is medium to strong on the aroma.
Heavy, heavy hop bitterness dynamites the palate upon first sip, corroding all the taste buds and really forcing a cringe. If there is still this much bitterness in the bottle after 2 years, it must have been downright brutal when fresh. As the palate adjusts to the bitterness, it must also confront the dry, lightly toasty/earthy crystal malt that seems to delay the onset of the sourish, bready munich malt. Once that begins working, combined with the alcohol warmth and heavy, caramelized sugars, the richness and decadence are matched by few. That being said, the acidity from the hops, munich malt and alcohol sharpness/dryness are only balanced by the intense, sugary, syrupy, coating, candy-caramel-sugars. Texture is creamy, smooth and liquorous, the forced carbonation having settled out after 2 years in the bottle. Hmm, what to think? For an American-style Barleywine, it certainly is well-made, that is, rich, unbalanced, decadent and massively bitter. After 2 years, I can’t expect much hop flavor, so you can’t fault it for that, and the alcohol, while gratuitous, is not more apparent than I would expect for this level. Full-bodied, that’s for sure. As it warms and the carbonation comes off further, you get a gritty maple-caramel-honey sugariness that is thick, rich and syrupy (and pleasant, in a decadent way). I think my usual tendency to really rate these types in to the ground for their lack of balance and elegance is not quite fair. It is a well-made beer, in that it is not flawed, fuselic, fuelic or poorly malted, but there is little excitement from the rich, heavily sugared caramel-maple malts and deadening hop acidity. Like an after-dinner cordial, also reminds me of Barleys Barleywine from Ohio. With some sherry-like oxidation after 5 or so years, this could be very intriguing.
As a postscript, the brewer informs me that there is no munich malt in this. Not sure what accounts for the light sourness and breadiness, but perhaps the alcohol dryness with the crystal malts and some yeast biproduct?

Bomber Bottle, in .25 l straight-sided glass. My sample is just labeled "Brew Kettle German Style Alt (old) Beer," which the bartender said shouldn’t be rated because it was not being commercially served. But this bottle, from the cooler of the BOP section, has the ol’ gov’t warning on its label, and other non-Ringneck stuff has rated pretty well, here, so I’ll assume this is the same recipe, except this one may be extract-based. Deep coppery pour with a frothy, persistent eggshell head. A Munich/Vienna malt nose that does taste a little like extract and steeped grains. Smell is bit hard for me with a swollen nose right now, but I can get pleasant hint of a little hops and a very slight smokiness, perhaps a bit nutty, too. I agree that it’s a very clean beer. I had thought I shouldn’t hold on to this much longer because it might not have been filtered, conditioned or pasteurized, but it had held up very well. Ultimately, the taste is a little on the light side for what should be a hoppy German style, but there is nothing displeasing about it.

Bottled. A big malty smell upon opening. Nice amber pour under a slightly rocky, slightly tan head. Big caranel malty taste, too, with a notable alcohol component. Rye is there mostly as a spicy kick to a mostly, I think, German hop list (okay, now that I’ve read the description here, I’m wrong about the pedigree of the hop. But it’s still a good bittering hop instead of going over the top in an APA way).

Draft sampler, at the Brew Kettle. A light Pils color. This was sixth in my sampler tray, yet it still had a decent ring of foam when I got to it. Not much else that stands out except there is a notable Pilsener hop component. Hey, it’s a tricky style for the small brewer.

Draft sampler, at the Brew Kettle. More a porter color when in a little taster: brown highlights not found in other schwartzes. Verrry alcoholic. Kind of smoky, like a maple smoked ham. Ain’t no Sprecher, but intriguing nonetheless.

Draft sampler, at the Brew Kettle. Boy, it’s hard for a beer to compete in a popular style, innit! Just check the disparity between this one’s Overall and Style percentile rankings. Oh well:
The board behind the bar now says this is only 8.5% abv. A big hop smell of, well, cat dander (perhaps it triggers my allergies). Pineapple, grapefruit, pine cones come through, though, when I drink it. This thing raises a fight all the way down my throat. Of cource there’s lots of malts there, but they don’t have much of a chance.

Draft sampler, at the Brew Kettle. Light yellow, of course. This was third in my sampler tray and the head is already gone. Taste is kind of "off"–a bit too yeasty, methinks–otherwise it wouldn’t be bad. As with many brewpubs, I’d just guess their lagering facilities aren’t yet up to snuff. But it turns out this does turn into a nice easy drink as I get toward the end.

Draft sampler, at the Brew Kettle. Quite the li’l hop monster they’ve got here (currently listed as 45 ibu). Hop smell and taste is a bit grapefruity, and more than a bit harsh, the way a hophead would love. Has a proper pale ale color, light brownish-orange, and a thin head held back by its hop load.

Draft sampler, at the Brew Kettle. Proper coppery color. Light head in the sampler glass, leaving just a thin ring. Nicely toasted malts, but overmatched by a big hoppy hit. Good if you like your ales hoppy, which I think most of us do.