Montegioco Bran Reserva

Brewed by Birrificio Montegioco
Style: Barley Wine
Montegioco, Italy

Serve in Snifter

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Very very wine-like. Oaky, currants, tart, some chocolate. This beer is a mess and not really a beer. Like cranberry and cherry juice.

[Bottle] shared by guerde. Pours a clear, burnt caramel with almost no head. Aroma has lots of red wine barrel character, which I am really thrilled about, plenty of tannin, caramel, cherry, and alcohol. The barrel doesn’t completely cover up the base beer, which is nice. Flavor is a bit thin and nearly flat, there is a nice sharp tartness in there, caramel, and cherry.

Bottle: pours a deep dark red - reminds a bit of red wine but cloudy, I can smell the red wine aroma from a few feet away, also a sweet aroma hidden under the wine aroma, taste is sour, the wine from the barrel aging is quite present as well in fact it mostly overpowers anything else this beer has to offer. Very interesting stuff, certainly drinkable...I wonder what a wine lover would think of this one?

Bottle: Courtesy of pepsican...thanks Andy. I don’t think I’ve ever had anything quite like this...the pour looked like some of the finest balsamic vinegar ever and the aroma was sic. Big vinous notes with some dark malts, raisins, black cherries. There seems to be a very subtle vanilla and oak tone going on but the wine-like qualities pretty much overpower them. Lightly carbonated...dry, medium body. Starts slightly sweet and wine-like and then morphs into a dark, malty, fruity finish that has notes of chocolate and oak showing through. Fine brew.

Courtesy Beerlando. Pours a cola brown, with a small head. Aroma is interesting, with notes of wine, grapes, oak, coccoa, milk sugars and some earth. Flavor is vinous, with a touch of sourness. Very nice.

Grapes, booze, other vinous characteristics dominate start to finish. Really reminds me of a mediocre wine in many ways. No thanks.

Bottle from Knightly Spirits. Pours a dark brown/black coffee color with no head. This has an incredibly effervescent aroma of fruits, caramel, and old room. Flavors are sour and chocolatey, yet robust with caramel and oak wood. Very wine-like with notes of pinot noir, cranberry, blueberry, and pomegranate. Medium/low carbonation and full body. Very complex and nicely balanced carbonation with the body. Alcohol content is hidden well. An excellent brew.

Pours a deep dark reddish brown. Small head. Looks kind of like wine, definitely smells like wine. Flavor is similar to purple drank. Plums, cherry, wood, chemicals. Mouthfeel = wine. Pretty good, but kind of bizarre.

Pours a dark hue with a minimal white head. Aroma is quite nice with hints of oak, cherry, and some sour notes. Flavor is a bit dead though. It’s sweet and tart and doesn’t resemble a barley wine at all, probably due to the wine barrels. It seems very confused as to what it is, a sour or barley wine, and I think it just hurts it in the long run. Finishes with thin carbonated body. Seems like it had the possibility to be a really good sour though.

Colore molto scuro,quasi nera con una schiuma sottile.Aroma di vino con sentori di legno di quercia.Gusto leggermente alcoolico e di frutti rossi.Buona