AleSmith Barrel Aged Old Numbskull

Brewed by AleSmith Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
San Diego, California USA

3rd September 2008. Bottle 170/223 2005 release. The salty malt of the unbarreled survives. Carbonation is lower and in this barrel aged version the sweet vanilla comes through strong and with a touch of woody dryness. A different beast to it’s source beer!

Not sure the vintage, the pen wore off, but I can tell you that this was bottle 117 of something. Been excited for this bottle for a long time, opened and shared at the HOTD Dock Sale, thanks to drewbeerme for trading this bottle. Cloudy unappealing pour, but that’s the only real complaint here. Great bourbon notes blend beautifully with a luscious malty body for an explosion of flavor, the real surprise comes with the residual hops that are still there on the end and make for a nice twang on the finish. Just spectacular.

[Vintage 2006] Bottle @ the HotD dock sale... Poured brown with a tan head. Aroma of brown sugars. Settled nicely with a low alcohol heat and some oak and malt notes. An earthy bitterness in the finish.

Wow! The first beer of the night, and what a beer. 750 ml bottle 99/227 2004 edition. Pours a cloudy brown color with a small white bubbly head. The aroma is just heavenly; rich vanilla, wood, bourbon, rich malty goodness. The flavor was great as well; a massive malty flavor, wood and lighter bourbon, very subdued. Warm, but not overly so. A smooth and so damn nice. Five years have mellowed this beer into an amazing gem. This is why I love AleSmith, and also why Eric is such a generous bastard. Thanks a ton man.

2007. Bottle 311/449. Cracked this one open for Halloween. Pours a dark mahagony color with a thin to moderate head that settles quickly to bubbles and a few patches on top. The aroma is potent consisting of plums, raisins, bourbon and wood notes. Nice. The flavor is full of dark fruits; plums, raisins, figs with a rich bourbon flavor, oak and resiny hops. Quite boozy but soft on the palate. I love regular Numbskull, it’s probably one of the few I compare all other barleywines to, so I’m not surprised that this comes across as a great example of a bourbon aged barleywine. It’s not superior to the regular version though, which as of this review I surprisingly like a little more.

This will forever be the standard to which I will judge barrel-aged barley wines, thanks to Alldaydrinker!!! Rating this from memory, I will have to be brief. The pour transluscent mahagony with a rocky head that forms a tan head like a mass of whipped cream atop it’s ominously dark, almost murky body. The nose had a huge tobacco, oak and caramel character. The flavour was decidently full with dark fruits, almonds, bourbon and vanilla/wood. The palate, from what I remember, was soft, yet more carbonated than expected. Sipping on this for about an hour was unreal. Thanks Jeff for sharing this bute, and thanks Alesmith for brewing it!

Pours and orange/brown with a slightly slimy head. Nose is slightly oxidized with oak, toffee, and bourbon. Taste is great with a nice oak astringency, smokey, slight bourbon flavors, huge cigar tobacco flavor. Amazing.

750mL bottle, 2004 vintage #75/240, courtesy of a very generous BA, poured into a snifter. Pours a hazy amber brown with a surprisingly big cream-colored head that recedes slowly to a healthy collar and a little lacing. It shows some legs clinging to the sides after each sip. The aroma is excellent and well-balanced. It’s got the underlying BW character with the caramel malts, toffee and dark fruits coming out especially. It’s balanced perfectly with the wood and whiskey which brings a bit of vanilla sweetness to the aroma. What sets it apart for me is the balance as the whiskey is not too overpowering. The taste is just as good with the bourbon coming out a little more than in the aroma with the big sweet malts forming a solid backbone. I do think the flavors are a little more watered down than I expected and that’s probably just the age. The mouthfeel is slick with a low carbonation and medium bodied. It’s probably thinned out a little bit over time honestly. This is an excellent barleywine that was probably world class a year or two ago. The flavors have mellowed out a bit and it’s extremely drinkable, but it’s probably lost a little complexity and body. Still extremely good.