Drakes 15th Anniversary Bourbon Barrel Lager

Formerly brewed at Drakes Brewing Company
Style: Strong Pale Lager/Imperial Pils
San Leandro, California USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Footed Pilsner, Lager glass, Stein

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Poured with a sparse off-white head. This dark brown lager exhibits sherry-like characteristics that are enhanced by a warming bourbon sensation, followed by caramel and vanilla notes. Tastes more like a liquor than a beer, but serves as a good after-diinner drink, calling for a nice cigar.

Bottle shared courtesy of egajdzis. Poured a deep and hazy amber color with a small sized off white head. Aromas of bourbon, caramel, vanilla, oak and light alcohol. Tastes of caramel, vanilla, wood and bourbon. Medium alcohol burn in the finish.

Thanks to egajdzis for this... Appears a light hazy amber with a small light tan head that quickly fades out. Spotty lacing is left around the glass. Smell is of bourbon, oak, with a touch of caramel and vanilla standing out. Taste is of the same aromas with the oaky bourbon sticking to the palate and the tongue. Mouthfeel...there is a slight alcohol burn that is warming, slightly sweet, with a mildly burning finish.

Thanks to egajdzis for bringing this rare treat to an after work tasting. Pours a hazy goldend brown with a smaller bubbly off white head. Aroma was sweet and malty, vanilla, dark fruits, oak, bourbon, caramel and alcohol. Flavor of vanilla, caramel, alcohol, slight roast, dark fruits and rather creamy.

Poured a hazy, reddish amber color with a small, light tan head that quickly diminished, leaving spotty, sticky, lacing on the glass. Aroma of vanilla oak, bourbon, caramel malts, honey and sharp alcohol as well. Taste of nuts, more caramel malts, vanilla, charred wood and a fair amount of alcohol in the finish.

Big thanks to Dave Cooks for this. The pour is muddy deep brown with a lot of floaties and a small khaki head. The aroma is big, with bourbony malts, oaky dark fruit, brown sugar, cinnamon, hops, and blackberries. The flavor is very oaky and bourbony, with a lot of malty figs, and a tartness that never gets sweet. Medium palate that is slightly aqueous. As it warms, it gets very much like a straight single malt bourbon.

Bottle... Murky, brown lager with no head. Big malt, wood and sourmash aroma. Malty, bourbony, sweet flavor up front. Hops and alcohol bitter it up a bit on the backside. Full-bodied and mostly smooth with pillow-soft carbonation. Finishes failry mellow despite the big alcohol. Woodsy too. Very nice. Thanks go out to Tever for the bottle!

A nipper bottle bought at Hollingshead. Murky brown color with a minimal head, the nose and flavor are basically bourbon. this is a whiskey beer and a bit one dimensional

6 oz bottle, via beerguy101. Pours a cloudy and slightly murky copper/brown color with a thin whispy white head. Some sediment in bottle. Aroma is a mix of bourbon, heavy toffee and caramel maltiness, alcohol, and some sherry. Flavor is big bourbon, alcohol, and sherry up front, fading to a drying hot alcoholic finish with an almost single malt scotch character. Some oxidation present. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, but all the alcohol thins out the finish. Minimal fine carbonation. I just can’t get too into the barrel beers from these guys. They’re OK, but too alcoholic and not a whole lot of complexity to them in my opinion.

From Bottle. Pours a rich cherry brown with a small layer of white head that reduces quickly to a thin, wispy ring. Thick sugary bouquet that reminds me of a mild fruit beer. Over ripe raspberries, chocolate covered cherries, and lightly spiced fig jump out right away. Upon further examination, a hint of bourbony alcohol becomes apparant. This had a very familiar aroma that took me awhile to decipher, but after finally figuring it out, I realized it smelled like the Jamaican Black Cake from the Keweenaw’s Jampot, which definitly confirms the presence of bready bourbon. Impressive aroma, and the flavor also does not disappoint. Roasty, sugary, and oaky all at the same time. A wave of caramelized blackbgerries coat the tongue along with a grilled skirt steak meatiness. Some oaky bourbon characteristics come out next, but bring along an alcohol tinge thats a bit too hot. The heat of the alcohol then fades away, leaving behind a final smack of roasted walnuts and molasses. Very nice overall, but the alcohol is just a bit too hot and interrupts the palate complexity.