Still very good, although the brandy is mostly background booze at this point. A highly alcoholic tart cherry lager. Best a little younger when the brandy is more prominent but still delicious.

All my previous notes say the brandy comes out as it warms but that seems to be fading now. The brandy is still there but more background. Drinks like a crisp cherry lager. Plus alcohol.

Holding up really well for a lager after 6 months. Get it cold an ther cherry really comes out. Once it warms the brandy tends to dominate. But I don't regret this purchase at all. It's a really nice change of pace. Delicious. Kind of ridiculous ABV, though.

Huge, huge brandy. Still nicely tart. I didn't buy it until it was already 3 months old but doesn't seem to be hurting from the age, even though it's a lager. Of course I never had a really fresh bottle to compare... Still, it's fun.

Brandy works well with the tart cherries. Gets more boozy as it warms up.

Much better out of the IPA glass but still not my kind of beer.

As advertised, a "Hoppy Red Ale". It's fine but NvU is so much better.

Tastes and smells better from the Speigelau IPA glass, should have been using that all along. Anyway, it's a nice clean refreshing IPA with lots of flavor, especially for 5.9%!

So rich and flavorful. What's left to say. I actually thought it tasted like a stout at first. Then the sweetness came out, kind of nutty. Reminds me of a master chef who knows how to use a dozen different spices to develop a complex flavor that is more than the sum of its significant parts. I need to get another six pack and start drinking at 3 years.

Really nice right now. Drank this one somewhat chilled. Kind of a harsh bitterness in the background but plenty sweet and lots of flavor.

Much sweeter than I remember, though not in an unbalanced way. Tasted a lot of dried fruit. Reminds me of Jubilation Ale now. I think I like this one better fresh. Will see what happens after another six months.

Don't let this one warm up to room temp. Best at cellar temp <65.

Past its prime by this point, less than 18 months old. Not much chocolate left. I get bitter coffee and molasses finish. I'll have a 2017 soon to compare. At 1 year old this was still nearly identical to the fresh batch.

Smoother mouthfeel than the 2017 but coffee has dropped off significantly. I like the 2017 better already and I expect it to smooth out quickly as ot settles in the bottle.

Still good, maybe not as balanced as it could be. Smokier, burnt caramel, enough bourbon but not a bomb. More barrel than bourbon.

Lost about all the bourbon in the flavor. I expected it to be smoother by now but it's still quite boozy. Very sweet, in a good way, though.

Tastes and smells better from the Speigelau IPA glass, should have been using that all along. Anyway, it's a nice clean refreshing IPA with lots of flavor, especially for 5.9%!

Tastes and smells better from the Speigelau IPA glass, should have been using that all along. Anyway, it's a nice clean refreshing IPA with lots of flavor, especially for 5.9%!

Tastes and smells better from the Speigelau IPA glass, should have been using that all along. Anyway, it's a nice clean refreshing IPA with lots of flavor, especially for 5.9%!

It's a massively hopped barleywine. I didn't notice a big difference once it settled in. Pretty good, though, and not terribly expensive. Not hard to justify the cellar space but it's never really going to be at the top of my list of what I want at any given time.

So, so different than the first bottle I drank 9? months ago. No more oily mouthfeel. Very hoppy for a barleywine. Citrusy aroma and lots of citrus hops in the flavor (Sierra Nevada after all...) .Clove and similar spices in the aftertaste. Shared a surprising amount of flavors with the 6-month old 90 minute IPA I had yesterday. Not as sweet as I expect from a barleywine, definitely reminds me of a full-bodied malty IPA.

Tastes and smells better from the Speigelau IPA glass, should have been using that all along. Anyway, it's a nice clean refreshing IPA with lots of flavor, especially for 5.9%!

I see that I mentioned sour notes in my previous review but I didn't detect anything like that in this bottle. Not a barrel-forward beer. More barrel in the aroma than the flavor. We all really enjoyed it, probably more than the last time. Very smooth, the 12% didn't hit as hard as last time. Sweet but also bitter, surprisingly so for an English Barleywine. Not sure what to make of that but I would like to get my hands on more of Clown Shoes' barrel stuff.

Very different than bourbon barrel aged barleywine. Some sour notes in the aroma that I couldn't quite place. Sweetens greatly as it warms. Very pleasant but kind of heavy. Every bit the 12%.

Tastes and smells better from the Speigelau IPA glass, should have been using that all along. Anyway, it's a nice clean refreshing IPA with lots of flavor, especially for 5.9%!

Tasted more like an Imperial Oktoberfest than a scotch ale. Not unpleasant but the Munich malts overwhelmed with sweetness.

It's OK. I probably need to try it fresh but there are much more reliable great beers out there.