Beer: Brook's 2002 Special Reserve Barleywine
Brewery Location: Greenwood, IN
Beer Style: Barleywine
Serving Style: On-Tap
ABV: ???
UPDATE: It has been brought to my attention that I should have done more research on this beer before I stated that "It is named after one of the old brew masters." I just took the information that was on my menu at the restaurant, and didn't ask more information about it. This beer is named after the co-founder/co-owner/first brew master of Oaken Barrel: Brook Belli. I had no idea of the situation surrounding my comment and I offer my apologies to anyone that I may have offended. It was certainly not in my intentions, and I was only in the search of great beer. Again, my apologizes to anyone that I may have offended.
I was at Oaken Barrel this weekend and saw this beer as part of their special reserve series. There is a disclaimer when you order this beer though that you can only have one during your visit the brewery. I do love barleywines, so I figured I would give this a go.
This beer pours a deep amber-copper color approaching almost brown. A very thin swirl of head and no lacing. The malt hits you in the face and lasts the entire beer. It is more than assertive on the nose. There are secondary scents of sweet caramel and toffee with more than a hint of alcohol. I didn't get very much hop character out of the nose at all. The taste brings a few more things together. The malt is rather bitter but the sweet finish has flavors of caramel and toffee. The flavors meld together very well for how strong the nose was on this beer. The mouthfeel is big and chewy with the alcohol warmth very noticeable on the mouth. I wouldn't drink this very often, but if I was in the mood for a strong barleywine this would be it. If I had to guess though on the ABV I would say it's 9% or more.
Overall I really enjoyed this beer. I think you would need to enjoy big beers to like this one though. The alcohol content is high, but it doesn't get to "boozy" at all. I don't know how long they will have this on tap over there, but if you do find yourself at Oaken Barrel I would give it a try.
Cheers!
Matt