Drakes Frankenwein

Brewed by Drakes Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
San Leandro, California USA

Serve in Snifter

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On tap at Hamiltons during RBSG ’08. Pours with a deep red-brown body topped by a medium thick head with a good amount of lacing. It’s slightly sweet and malty yet hoppy with notes of caramel and some pine. Full bodied, tingly and slightly dry.

Draft at Pizza Port Carlsbad: Pumpkin brown. Persistent ivory froth. Quality nose of baker’s chocolate, sherry-drizzled cake, leafy hops, and plummy esters. Hints of pine and raisin. Softly carbonated. Full-bodied. Initial resinous hop smack dovetails with a well-developed thickset malt base. Hop bitterness gently surges forth and throws more pine resin, melon seeds and tongue-numbing oils. Hops gracefully scratch the tongue and possess no remote astringency. Supple notes of plum jelly and juicy melon uphold the center, lending depth to the malty sweetness while complementing the complex yet beautifully composed hop character. Dry edge of earthy malt reveals hints of coffee and bitter chocolate which tempers the resounding malt girth and oily hop onslaught. Finishes richly malty and chewy with trailing pinesap which is soaked up by cakey malt. Really polished and mellow, overall. Judging from the cakey malt heft, finessed hops, and solid integration of flavors, I’m guessing this keg was around a year old. Exemplary depth and balance.

Draft from Toronado Barley Wine Festival. Fairly dark amber. Aroma is malt dominated, quite sweet. Caramel, wood, some darker fruit. Full bodied, quite sweet, alcohol hidden well for how high it is.

On tap at PP Cbad. Dark amber color. Small wispy head. Sweet and malty. Mild bitterness. Little caramel. A little tongue burn. Alcohol barely noticable. Easy to drink. Very nice. Hint of yeast. Finishes clean.

On tap @ City Beer Store SF. Poured a nice amber mahogany color. Probably the most malty BW I’ve had. Nose was sweet and carmel malt and some pine hop aroma. Flavor is very hoppy with the malt creeping into the mid, with the bitter dry finish making this a decent brew.

On draft at beer revolution. It pours dark amber with a creamy off white head. The aroma is amazing with lots of dark fruit and hard candy. Caramel, cherry, plums, raisins, toffee. Very potent. The flavor is rich, smooth, and bright with fruit flavors , caramel and toffee. Tastes a bit oxidized with some nuts and sherry, but it adds another great dimension to this beer. Alcohol is pretty potent with a big plummy caramel finish.

handbottled from rodger. These drakes guys know their stuff. This is one fine barleywine with a huge hop presence and a great hop finish. Me likey.

Draft at Beer Revolutiin - Muddy dark amber. Slight head. Sweet makty aroma. Thinner body than expected. Flavors of peaches and apricot followed almost immediately by bitternrss from the hops. Only slight warming in throat. Due to bitternrss is definitely a sipping beer.

Poured at Firkin fest at Triple Rock, labeled firkinwine, amber-orange small white head little carbonation. Nose of citrusy floral hops, alcohol and sweet malt. Decent barley wine. Has a rush of piney citrusy hops upfront, good flavor not too hoppy but the sweetness rushes in with some fruity and bubblegum flavors making for an almost too sweet finish. Drinkable but not a top contender.

On draft @ Toronado. Poured a dark, murky brown, slightly red, with a very little cap of off-white head. The nose is a balance of hops (spicy, earthy and piny) and dark sweet molasses. I’m also picking up a slight bit of grapefruit in it as well. The taste also follows a hop and malt balance present in the nose. Hoppy pine, grapefruit rind, bitterness, but a sticky caramel comes in at the end. It’s slightly tangy, but not at all cloying. Mouth feel is medium with very nice carbonation. No alcohol warmth, the finish is a little bitter and slightly astringent.