Still fantastic. No drop-off but my preference center's around the three year mark. Barrel-aged is great but not what I want all the time. Perfect with beef stew.

Nearly 3 years old and this is in it's prime.

Yep, this is my definition of Russian Imperial Stout.

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.

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.

It's pretty good and a surprising value at $12 for 6x16. Intensely floral hops, with a sweetness I don't attribute to the 8.5%. Wish it were at or below 8, especially for the pint format. If it were <=7.5% or 12oz cans I would definitely revisit. One plus is that they fly off the shelves and are replenished quickly enough that when you see it, it's almost guaranteed to be fresh.

It's pretty good and a surprising value at $12 for 6x16. Intensely floral hops, with a sweetness I don't attribute to the 8.5%. Wish it were at or below 8, especially for the pint format. If it were <=7.5% or 12oz cans I would definitely revisit. One plus is that they fly off the shelves and are replenished quickly enough that when you see it, it's almost guaranteed to be fresh.

Better this time, compared to my previous notes. So much chocolate. Rye came through much more when fully chilled, smoothed out with sweet milk chocolate as it warmed.

I expected more at 13% from Central Waters, although I don't regret the $8. Whiskey leavings give an odd sour mash taste, which doesn't jibe with the roasty stout. Not as massive of a stout as I would expect, the ABV must be largely due to the spirit. Not as balanced as I hoped. I'd rather have their regular old bourbon barrel stout, even if I'm not grading on an abv/cost curve.

This is a solid 8% DIPA with rich aromatic hops.

This is amazing.

This is a solid 8% DIPA with rich aromatic hops.

It's pretty good. Wish he would do the Oud Bruin again.

Has mellowed out a bit. Not sure how much character this will develop. Didn't overly impress me from the start so it's probably not my bag. Cran-bic, Enigma, Oud Bruin, Wild Sour, those are worth the space. This is refreshing. Goes well with trout. Probably won't buy again. Not because it's bad but there is great stuff out there and available.

Wish it were maltier, I guess that would be an Oud Bruin. Should develop some nice funk so I'll be patient with the other bottles.

This is a solid 8% DIPA with rich aromatic hops.

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.

Could hardly be more disappointed. It tastes like runoff from the wine barrels. On the plus side, no hint of the wheat characteristic that detracts from the base beer(s). Of course there is no hint of the base beer at all. Not too vinegary to drink, a bit more salinity as it warms. Why would you do this to a beer? Such a poor marriage of beer and barrel.