Driftwood Brewery – Old Barrel Dweller Barley Wine

Rating

4 out of 5

Aroma

3.6 out of 5

Appearance

4.3 out of 5

Taste

4.1 out of 5

Palate

Total

4

4 out of 5

Overview

• Brewery: Driftwood Brewery
• Beer Style: Barley Wine, Barrel Aged
• Pros:

  Smooth with a whiskey back

• Cons:

  Strong in every sense

• Conclusion:

  Great, barrel aged Barley Wine.

Driftwood Brewery – Old Barrel Dweller Barley Wine Review

Barley Wines are an acquired taste and when you throw the barrel aging process into the mix even fewer step up to the plate. That said, the barrel aging actually mellows the harshness that is attributed with many barley wines. The Old Barrel Dweller is a Kentucky Bourbon barrel aged Barley Wine. It is aged for three months to give it a strong, smooth and full bodied flavour

The Old Barrel Dweller is a dark, chestnut brown colour that has a single finger of slowly dispersing head. Trickling through the dense head is an aroma of whiskey, toasted malts and a mellower that most, Barley wine harshness. The flavour is bold! Starting off with an almost sour sweetness this builds into the whiskey notes given through the barrel aging process. These flavours are creamy and smooth mellowing the very present sharpness that all Barley Wine carries. It is a small few that can truly appreciate a beer like this and those that do will likely still share. I quite like this beer though. It is a creamy, smooth, strong and unique beer that offers warmth when the nights grow cold. The only thing that could improve this beer is time so don’t just grab one. Pick one bottle for now and at least another for another year.

Alcohol – 11.8%
Size – 650ml
Price – $11.99 (Cold Beer and Wine)
driftwoodbeer.com (not listed on website)