King Henry - Goose Island Beer Co.

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BA SCORE
100
world-class
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947 Ratings

THE BROS
100
world-class
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rAvg: 4.69
pDev: 10.23%
Reviews: 276
Hads: 671

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Brewed by:
Goose Island Beer Co.

Illinois, United States

Style | ABV
English Barleywine | 13.40% ABV

Availability: Rotating. bottle (272), on-tap (4).

Notes:
This beer is retired; no longer brewed.

Brewer's notes:
Aged in Pappy Van Winkle 23 bourbon barrels, previously used to age Rare Bourbon County Brand Stout. King Henry is a burgundy hued English-style barleywine with aromas of vanilla, oak, and dark fruit. Caramel and toffee flavors blend together with bold notes of bourbon delivered in a smooth body followed by a malty finish. No matter the occasion, King Henry promises a regal drinking experience.

Reviews

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Reviews by TK5150:

TK5150

Maine

4.48/5 rDev -4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A- Pours raisin colored with a khaki colored head that recedes to a ring around the glass. Ruby highlights. Alcohol legs on the glass. A dark barleywine fore sure.

S- Date cookies with powdered sugar, molasses, raisins, and bourbon barrel.

T- Bourbon barrel, raisins, molasses, with plums, figs, sweet dough, and lingering heat down the esophagus. The dark fruits stand out quite a bit on this barleywine. The barrel presence is more refined than other barrel aged offerings from Goose Island.

M- Very smooth, light carbonation, full bodied, excellent.

O- One of the better barrel aged barleywines out there. As far as similar beer, I would take BB4D (which is obviously an old ale) over this. My first sip of this beer was excellent, but the more I drank the less I liked it. The sweet dough and dark fruits seemed to take over the taste for me as it warmed. Would I trade for this again? No, not worth the hassle. If this were a year-round release or a normal seasonal it would be worth getting again.

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2012 00:14:48 | More by TK5150

More User Reviews:

nrs207

Pennsylvania

4.75/5 rDev +1.3%

05-25-2013 01:14:37 | More by nrs207

weonfire

Kentucky

4.31/5 rDev -8.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.25

Bottle date: 10/08/11

A - Dark Brown/Mahogany, tiny amount of head around rim, tiny amount of carbonation rising, zero head.

S - Sweet bourbon, vanilla, toffee, chocolate, carmel, brown sugar, touch of biscuit, aged fruits: prune, figs,

T - Bourbon, vanilla, toffee, chocolate. Finish: dry biscuit, bitter vanilla and booze (4/10)

M - Heavy, extremely thick, very full body, super cream, frothy, syrup, chest gets warm from booze

O - This is the heaviest, fullest, closest to syrup beer I've ever consumed. So much that it wasn't even drinkable until just about room temperature. Yes, the nose is excellent. The taste doesn't have the bourbon one would expect but is very pleasant, vanilla is very dry and bitter with a rather hot finish. No matter- the overwhelming characteristic is the over exceeding thickness, syrup. I cannot get past that.

Serving type: bottle

05-21-2013 23:03:18 | More by weonfire