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

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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 draft at the Livermore Saloon. It pours cloudy brown with a tan head. The aroma is sweet caramel with some light wood, vanilla and mildly tart berries. I was told this was the Syrah barrel version, but I’m definitely picking up some bourbon as well. The flavor is thick with barrel, caramel, vanilla and some light fruit and mild funk in the finish. Very full bodied. Nice, but a bit confusing.

On tap @ Pony w Streets. Nice, dark red pour with tan head and red hue. Aroma is dark red fruits with bourbon/booze. Smooth and viscous mouthfeel encases flavors of bourbon, vanilla, funky yeast and a rich, dark fruit character. Complex and sweet. Bourbon-dunked, chocolate-covered cherries.

Aroma of chocolate, cherry cordial, and deep currant notes. Pours deep grey and red with a good film. Tastes amazing of tawny port, chocolate, and cherries. Slight coffee note towards the end. Brilliant and potent.

Bottle at Barrio Brewing thanks to FlacoAlto for sharing this as a "palate clenser" during our time at Barrio. hazy copper huge with no head-how old is this brew? big nose-dark fruits, tannens, oxidized malt, smells like an aged barleywine to me-woody with lots of dark fruit and tannens. flavors of red grapes, plums, oak, wood, pinon nore barrel? big body-has a huge alcohol note on the finish. man i cant get into these big beers anymore for some reason. Good for what it is and thanks to FlacoAlto for sharing!

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.

Bottle shared by Smokepot, thanks man
Appearance: Hazy brown with a medium sized beige head and good lacing
Aroma: Toasted malts and dark fruit
Taste: Caramel, oak, bourbon and dark fruits
A nice easy drinking barleywine, nice.

Bottle, thanks to smokepot! Pours murky brown, no real head to speak of, spotty lacing. Nose is big barrel; allspice, pepper, fruit, tobacco, oak, very nice. Flavours are super-bourbon, some sour-mash sourness with fruit, vanilla, and tobacco. A quite different take on Barrel-aged barleywines, one of the prettier noses I have smelt on a barleywine as well.

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

A decent offering, well worth the money and i’d definitely get it again. Just didn’t knock my socks off. I liked this one a little less than the straight syrah, but it was more complex and a little less rough. just didnt have the fruitiness that the syrah barrel had picked up.