Tag Archives: bourbon barrel aged

The Bruery White Chocolate

Brewery: The Bruery
Country: USA
ABV: 13.8%
Style: Wheatwine
Other Notes: Ale aged in bourbon barrels with cacao nibs and vanilla beans. This bourbon barrel-aged wheatwine-style ale made a fanciful trip to the chocolatier, featuring cacao nibs from TCHO and fresh vanilla beans.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This is one luscious, rewarding summons to the senses – beginning with its golden appearance and finishing with warming, which chocolate-like flavors. This is accomplished by adding cacao nibs and fresh vanilla beans to our bourbon barrel-aged wheatwine-style ale, complementing the rich notes of coconut, honey, caramel and vanilla from extensive barrel-aging.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.25
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml bottle, 2017 edition, bottled on 19th January 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A cloudy orange brown colour with a half finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving some fine spotty lacing.
Aroma: Bourbon, chocolate, cacao, caramel, toffee, vanilla, raisin, with a hint of nuts and orange.
Taste: Moderately sweet, caramel, toffee, vanilla, honey, bourbon, chocolate, coconut, boozy, and a lightly bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: Boozy yet still smooth, with good aroma, flavours and complexity.

Yardley Brothers BUGS: Bourbon Marmalade Wheat Sour

Brewery: Yardley Brothers Brewing
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 7%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: 2020 vintage, limited release

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Barrel-aged series. Bourbon Marmalade Wheat Sour aged in oak bourbon barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.37
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 330ml bottle, 2020 vintage, bottle 581 of 1000. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A clear copper colour, with a one finger off white head that dissipates fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some decent lacing.
Aroma: Nice restrained bourbon, oak, vanilla, marmalade, honey, yuzu, almost candy like.
Taste: Sweet, whiskey sour, citrus zest, orange, pineapple, yuzu, lime, wheat, oak, with light bourbon notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: It reminds me of one of my favourite cocktails, the whiskey sour, so it was definitely enjoyable and easy to drink for me.

De Struise Sint Amatus

Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 11%
Style: Belgian Quadrupel
Other Notes: 2013 vintage. 23 IBUs. Bourbon barrel aged quad

Brewer Description: (from website) Saint Amatus is the Woodford Reserve bourbon barrel matured version of Pannepeut. Dark quadrupel (Trappist style).

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.2
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 330ml bottle, 2013 vintage, bottled on 21st June 2016. Poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: A hazy dark brown colour with no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Malty, dark fruit, plum, prunes, raisin, with notes of caramel and bourbon.
Taste: Sweet malt, moderately sweet, dark fruit, prunes, raisin, caramel, toffee, bourbon, boozy.
Mouthfeel: Sticky, medium to full bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: An enjoyable sipper. I preferred this original, over the cask strength version just a bit more.

De Struise Sint Amatus Cask Strength Woodford Reserve BA 3 Years

Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 11%
Style: Belgian Quadrupel
Other Notes: 2013 vintage cask strength

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Cask strength limited edition. Medium carbonation – WR bourbon barrel 3 yrs.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.02
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 750ml bottle, 2013 vintage, cask strength limited edition, bottled on 21st June 2016. Poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: A hazy dark brown colour with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Sweet malt, dark fruit, prunes, raisin, brown sugar, caramel, bourbon, with a hint of dark chocolate.
Taste: Sweet malt, caramel, slightly burnt sugar, brown sugar, dark fruit, prunes, raisin, bourbon, chocolate, lightly bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Aroma and flavours were nice, but carbonation was definitely lacking for me. If only it had the ‘medium carbonation’ as stated on the label…

De Struise Rio Reserva St Emilion Wine & Kentucky Bourbon BA

Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 10.5%
Style: Belgian Quadrupel
Other Notes: 2012 vintage. Belgian Quadrupel Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Collaboration ale with brew master Ryohei Sugawara from Rio Brewing & Co Japan. Belgian dark golden blond quadrupel with an enormous potential of aromas and flavors, and added complexity due to oak barrel aging. First aging took place in St.-Emilion oak wine barrels from Tour Baladoz. Bourbon barrels from Kentucky were next due to their very special soft roast quality and noble vanilla flavors. Limited edition of 3000 cask strength bottles with medium carbonation.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.18
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle, 2012 vintage, limited edition cask strength, bottled on 14th November 2016. Poured into a De Struise tulip glass.
Appearance: A brownish orange rusty colour with a big two finger beige head that had decent retention and eventually settled to a thin cap while leaving nice lacing.
Aroma: Sweet malt, dark fruit, plum, prunes, caramel, with light notes of bourbon, oak, vanilla and vinous.
Taste: Moderate sweetness, brown sugar, dark fruit, prunes, plum, caramel, toffee, bourbon, oak.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: An excellent sipper, with good complexity from the wine and bourbon barrels.