Whiskey Barrel Amber - Indian Wells Brewing Company

Phelps

Arizona

3/5  rDev +1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured from a wax-topped growler into my Lost Abbey stemware.

Dark chestnut in color and mostly clear. The fizzy grayish head is a late arrival, rising from the depths after the pour’s completed and popping away quickly.

Interesting, softly sweet. Bubble gum, caramel, a hint of apples mixed with whiskey.

Caramel, some peanutiness and marzipan in the flavor. Just a bit of fruits, apples, apricots. In the background, some bottom-shelf booze, with the telltale harsh graininess. Fairly clean, drying finish.

Light carbonation pokes the tongue gently in the medium, runny body. Plenty of fumes in the nose and heat in the throat, but not anything that would suggest 12 percent. The booze is fairly well-hidden.

I’m confused by the choice of packaging. With this beer so average in flavor and so high in alcohol, I’m bound to pour about half this growler out. Nowhere near good enough to justify the price tag or the serving size.

Serving type: growler

08-08-2011 03:37:34 | More by Phelps

SSEngelbrecht

Louisiana

2.25/5  rDev -24.2%

05-12-2013 18:23:11 | More by SSEngelbrecht

zander4dawin

Texas

2.85/5  rDev -4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75

Amber color with a haze. Taste really boozy with a tangy vanilla/raisin taste that lingers. Not a drain pour but overall nothing truly special. Mouthfeel is pretty light considering the aggressive 12 percent abv. Pretty much has an extra lager or nearly malt liquor booziness going for it without much taste to consider it a great beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2013 20:43:16 | More by zander4dawin

bmwats

Louisiana

3.23/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

Poured from a 650 ml bottle into a standard pint.

A: Dark amber hue. Pours about a 1 finger, foamy, white head. dissipates pretty quickly, and completely. Fair beer ring lacing.

S: Nutty malt, with a heavy dose of whiskey.

T: Lightly sweet malty flavor. Whiskey largely drowns anything else out.

M: Fairly light. Heavy alcohol content is deceiving. Sticky and syrupy. Almost like it's thinned out by the whiskey.... even though it's not.

D: Sip and savor.

Atmosphere is decent. Nice amber hue. Light foamy head, and light lacing. Nose is nutty and malty, but mostly whiskey. Flavor is syrupy sweet malt, mostly overshadowed by by whiskey. Overall, this is a decent quaff.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2013 02:36:13 | More by bmwats

duff247

Texas

3/5  rDev +1%

02-25-2013 00:50:41 | More by duff247

jheezee

Texas

3.75/5  rDev +26.3%

02-04-2013 16:22:50 | More by jheezee

12owls

California

4.25/5  rDev +43.1%

01-04-2013 22:50:07 | More by 12owls

SavvyStudent

Texas

3.88/5  rDev +30.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Pours with a nice amber body and leaes lace throughout bottle. Slight head on initial pour.

S: Oak, cherry, banana

T: A nice whiskey flavor with some sweetness on the back-end. A little sweet for an amber and not as deep as some other bourbon barrel beers out there.

M: A nice crisp finish without any bad residue.

O: The only reason I tried this beer was it was the only bourbon ish one at the local store. However for 10 I am on the fence about getting it again despite the nice surprise with this purchase. Unique enough to give it a try once at least

Serving type: bottle

Serving type: bottle

12-28-2012 03:48:41 | More by SavvyStudent

rquillin

1/5  rDev -66.3%

12-25-2012 00:52:55 | More by rquillin

texasnomad

2.98/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

After removing the obnoxious wax covering on the concentional cap, the beer poured a nice orangey amber-brown with a hint of haziness which cleared up after a few minutes. I probably had it a tad too cold.

I expected a fragrant bouquet, but was disappointed with a fairly weak nose, but I did pick up some notes of graham cracker and cherry and later sawdust.

Taste was average and about what you expect for a whiskey-barrell aged beer, with very light notes of cherry and caramel.

It had a nice mouthfeel, though not as creamy as I would have liked.

Overall the beer was average and not worth the 10 piece that I paid. I would drink it again, though, if it were not so expensive. It is nowhere near the deliciousness of Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale.

Serving type: bottle

12-20-2012 04:45:53 | More by texasnomad

twiggamortis420

Texas

1.65/5  rDev -44.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1.5

22 oz bottle courtesy of fthomasl pours a lightly hazed copper color with a modest crown of off-white head. Nice sheen and lacing.

Nose is maple and wood with a toasty, caramel maltiness. An interesting, albeit mild, mix of malty aromas.

Taste is a bit plasticy, which I have noticed in some of Indian Wells' other brews. Yuck...12% amber? not cool. The initial flavor does not really give off a whiskey flavor but the back end is overly tannic and...well...nasty comes to mind. Never again...foul, vile liquid. Glad I split this with someone (and didn’t pay the ridiculous fee of $10), otherwise at least half would have been feeding my disposal.

Serving type: bottle

12-11-2012 03:49:54 | More by twiggamortis420

Harvey98

Arizona

3.5/5  rDev +17.8%

12-09-2012 02:06:12 | More by Harvey98

faucd531

Louisiana

2/5  rDev -32.7%

12-02-2012 05:04:20 | More by faucd531

Jmick28

Texas

3.25/5  rDev +9.4%

11-16-2012 03:21:01 | More by Jmick28

IrishGermanAmerican

Texas

3.5/5  rDev +17.8%

11-13-2012 03:12:18 | More by IrishGermanAmerican

Exiled

Texas

3.25/5  rDev +9.4%

11-11-2012 19:40:17 | More by Exiled

valkyre65

Texas

3/5  rDev +1%

11-11-2012 14:04:48 | More by valkyre65

archero

Texas

4/5  rDev +34.7%

10-28-2012 05:24:32 | More by archero

gtermi

Texas

3.03/5  rDev +2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

A: Beer pours a nice amber body with a thick white head that quickly fades and leaves a lot of lace on the glass.

S: Some cheap whiskey, banana, a little bit of grain and some more cheap whiskey.

T: It has a weird cheap bourbon flavor that soon evolves to a sort of rain finish. The whiskey flavor is just way too powerful.

M: This beer is actually very smooth and has a nice body. It goes down with ease and it has a tiny bit of crispness on the back of the throat and tongue.

O: This beer is very average and doesnt make sense to me.. especially at 10 dollars a freaking bomber.

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2012 04:09:03 | More by gtermi

jh1982

Nevada

2/5  rDev -32.7%

01-28-2012 03:48:03 | More by jh1982

trappistlover

Arizona

2.95/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

(wax-capped growler from Total Wine Tempe). Yep, I bought the bullet on this one. Pours a ruby color with tan head. No carbonation or lacing. Aroma has some decent bourbon notes along with a bit of fruit. Taste is sweet malt with some light bourbon and a hint of bitterness. Thin bodied with an alcohol bite, although fairly well hidden for a 12% amber. Has a weird aftertaste. This was better than I thought, but it became a chore to drink it as time passed. Not sure why they used an amber for the base beer?

Serving type: growler

07-04-2011 19:58:22 | More by trappistlover