Ballast Point Bourbon/Syrah Barrel Aged Three Sheets Barleywine

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

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

On tap. Pours with a very deep red-brown hued body with a lasting tan head. Aromas are of bourbon, dark fruit, lightly vinous, raisins, currants, toffee, leathery and raw oak. Flavors are big and boozy with light acetone, caramel, oak, vinous, barrel. Big, leathery, red currant, brown sugar, medium tannin. Full bodied, low carbonation. Full and warming.

Reddish and quite cloudy pour. Tart wine, bourbon, honey, cactus fruit aroma. Flavor is sweet/tart, grapes, light bitterness, oak.

Frikin’ Alex scores a growler of this, damn. Thanks buddy. Pours mahogany with tan head. The aroma is oak then dry oak and then moving toward bourbon, some vanilla, and a light amount of dark fruitiness, caramel and then more oak along with a touch of wine. The taste is sweet with dark fruity goodness, aged oak, vanilla and then some wine and caramel notes mixed together. A growing oak note is noticed off in the background as it approaches the finish. Yummy stuff.

Wonderful nose full of jammy syrah, brown sugar, bourbon vanilla, underlying dark fruity notes. Solid sweet barleywine underneath. Dark auburn pour, creamy beige head. Awesome red hues. Amazing notes of syrah and bourbon barrel. Jam, brown sugar, vanilla, wood. Dark sweet fruity notes. Vanilla rounds out the finish. Solidly carbonated. Sweet but very well balanced as some solid hop bitterness comes through. A really amazing beer all the way through. Love the balance that the syrah/bourbon creates. Thanks Torry. I owe you man!

growler, thanks alex! pours nearly black with garnet edges. dense and creamy tan head with plenty of lace and good retention. enormoud rich tart and tannic red wine nose with sharp bourbon and vanilla mixed in. creamy medium body, approaching a little tackiness and viscosity. dates, figs, red wine grapes, grape skins, toffee, treacle, raisins, and figs on the mid palate. thick, complex, sweet, and interesting. long sticky sweet finish. beautifully harmonious and integrated.

Brown with a creamy head. Caramel and wine aroma. Sweet tangy and sour taste with a dry oaky finish.

Draught at TJ’s: Aroma of malt, diacetyl, ammonia, alcohol, brown sugar, light molasses, oak, vanilla, and bourbon. Poured amber in color with a large, creamy, dense, tan head that lasted throughout. Clear. Lightly sparkling. Flavor is medium sweet. Tastes of alcohol, malt, oak, vanilla, and bourbon. Medium body. Average texture. Soft to average carbonation. Sweet, malt, bourbon and oak finish. 9%ABV is present in the aroma, flavor, and finish. Some alcohol burn. Needs time to cool down.

On tap at Stone Oakquinox 2010. Not sure if this is the correct barrel aged version, but it did have bourbon notes, so I think this is correct. Pours a dark brown amber. Sweet malt, dried fruit, oak, bourbon, caramel, and earthiness. Pretty good, although I’m not a huge fan of three sheets.

Sampled January 2011 during RBWG Tucson pub crawl
The beer pours with a thin, wispy, tan colored head that sits on top of a lightly hazed, dark amber-brown colored beer. This smells quite oaky up front, but definitely smooth. The oak spiciness is accentuated by some warming alcohol aromatics and there is even a little smokiness here. There is an almost cactus like spiciness here and the beer has a touch of saltiness in the notes as well as some fruity berry notes, caramelized malt character and toasted grain aromatics. There are some hints of toasted coconut and vanillin notes from the Barrel influence and oxidation seems to have contributed a nuttiness as well as some sherry like aromatics. This is really quite woody, it smells of fresh cut oak, with a light buttery character and some spicy oak notes.

The beer tastes lightly sweet and almost has a tequila like flavor to it. It finishes with a bit of tin in the aftertaste too. This is actually fairly dry in the finish; this is brought out by an astringency from the oak, a tannic structure, some peppery spice notes and a Bourbon-like finish that is accentuated by an alcoholic heat. There is a dark fruitiness to this beer and there is also quite a bit of tartness here as well. Rich oxidation notes add a nutty note to the finish and boost the malt complexity a bit. This has a suggestion of salt and a smokiness that also add to the complexity. This is fairly light bodied, but it does have some texture (the oak and tannins certainly add a boost) to it such that it sticks a bit to the palate. The sourness becomes more prominent as the beer warms up; there was definitely some sort of wild bug involved here. This is very interesting, between the tartness and the fact that I can’t shake wanting to describe a cactus / tequila like spiciness.

On tap at Rose & Crown, served in a snifter. Pours dark reddish-brown with a small off-white head. Aroma is caramel, brown sugar, wood, bourbon, and red wine. A little tartness even. Flavor has quite a bit of syrah character, as well as some bourbon. Also caramel, toffee, mild roast, and a little booze. Medium-full body with low carbonation. Very tannic, and even a little astringent. Not terribly boozy, although you can feel the ABV. Drinkability is pretty good. A very solid beer overall, really interesting.