Better than the last one but I completely regret going in on this so many times.

Very different this time. Raisiny and weirdly sweet. Same over-the-top hop character, didn't meld with the malt sweetness. I'm still regretting how many of these I bought but this one is not good. Others had some redeeming qualities.

I noticed the viscosity, as much as anything else, this time. One participant compared it to whiskey. Intense and sweet. The original palate wrecker. Not an IPA by modern standards, not quite a barleywine, just a smooth hoppy strong ale. I might let it age one more year before opening another.

Very heavy on the apple from the Teku glass.

Blows me away, every time. The wrong food pairing can wreck this beer, though. First glass was amazing. After a salad with vinegar mustard dressing, all I could taste was the apples and a little cherry tart and cranberry sour.

When fully chilled, coffee is bitter and maple syrup is barely present. Let it warm a little and it all integrates much better.

When fully chilled, coffee is bitter and maple syrup is barely present. Let it warm a little and it all integrates much better.

The 2018 was my favorite, this can really hit the spot, though.

Thick at the bottom of the glass, and more maple syrupy than I remember. I hope the 2020 is more like the 2018, though.

This bottle maybe not as perfect but still an amazing feat to put out a beer that's still good after 19 years. Prune, date, molasses, burnt caramel. More oxidation this time.

Phenomenal. Incredibly sweet. Like raisin juice, but delicious. Barely carbonated. Smells amazing, too. As soon as I opened the bottle I got hit with waves of sweet sticky aroma. Very expensive but easier to justify the price.

Last bottle. Last night in Wisconsin. It can't get much better than this. Will probably never have it again.

Now this is more like it! So much more well integrated after a year in the bottle. I can taste the base beer and it's great, and the barrel adds so much. It softens the corners of the aggressive stout underneath without losing the bite. This is what I was expecting, one of the best I've ever tasted.

So, this takes 2 or 3 years of aging to get it where I want it. The bite is gone, the heat is gone, so smooth and rich. Tastes unmistakably like a barleywine, and an American barleywine at that, but so well integrated. One of the few worth the cellar space. Sigh, not quite Straightjacket but half the price.

Life.

This was a little more woody tasting earlier on but now the sweeter stickiness is coming out just like you want from a barleywine.

Eh, baker's chocolate and some maple sweetness. Didn't excite me but smoothed out a bit since May.

Not impressed with this one. Definitely smell the peanuts. Kind of a burnt, coffee taste, not overly sweet or thick. Barely a hint of barrel, which maybe isn't fair considering the price, and the fact it's subsequently blended. Smells better than it tastes.

Two to three years is the sweet spot for this. Velvety smooth, thick as oil, slight sweetness, perfectly balanced bitterness, rich malt depth. The only neg is the low carb, it almost drinks like a liquor.