Blunderbuss Barleywine 2012, Bourbon Barrel / Dry-hop Blend - Cambridge Brewing Company

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

3.85/5  rDev -9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

First had: on tap at CBC

This was a blend of two '12 Blunderbuss batches, one aged in bourbon oak barrels, the other aged in steel and dry-hopped.

Hazy, tarnished copper hue, topped with a small cap of bubbly off-white head that retained as a small collar. Aroma of raisins, solvent, and a generous amount of hops, pretty atypical from your average barleywine, though not completely unheard of. More of the same in the taste, with a definite solvent / fusel alcohol twinge in there, toasted grains, raisins and figs, notably hoppy with a bitterness that started about mid-palate and lasted into the aftertaste. Body was about medium to heavy-medium, not really as smooth as I like a barleywine to be, but it's still apparent what they were going for here, moderate carbonation, and while the alcohol was definitely present, it wasn't too hot. Pretty good overall.

Serving type: on-tap

02-27-2013 03:45:46 | More by Rifugium