Perennial Devil’s Heart of Gold

Brewed by Perennial Artisan Ales
Style: Barley Wine
St. Louis, Missouri USA

Serve in Snifter

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Big caramel booze, wood tannins, some vanilla, a very nice and complex barleywine.

Sampled at an esbls tasting. Clear mid brown with some red. Minimal head. A bourbony aroma. Bourbon is tasted first. Dark and other comp,ex fruot, too. The bourbon settles and this becomes a more classic BW. Both versipns are good. I am a fan.

Sampled at an ESBLS tasting. What can you say, this was an awesome beer. We had a vertical with the Heart of Gold from 2011 and 2012 then the Devils Heart of Gold. It poured a dark orange/golden color with a small off-white head. The aroma was of oak, vanilla, some caramel, a little fruitiness, some sugar with some wheat and grains. The taste was very similar with a big oak barrel aftertaste. Glad I have a bottle aging in the cellar. Will re-rate after that one ages a while.

Bottle. Pour is murky brown with a thin ring of tan foam and a few very slow-rising bubbles. Aroma is light brown sugar, faint vanilla, light alcohol, light bourbon, faint butterscotch, and a touch of christmas spice. Aroma is somewhat subdued. Body is much lighter than expected. Flavor is initially more mild than expected with toffee malt and faint vanilla dominating. Also hints of sweet bourbon and light pepper. Alcohol already seems to be more subdued as compared to prior ratings. Really not a very overpowering flavor. It’s got flavor, but for a bourbon barley wine, it’s pretty subtle. Easy to drink. As it warms, more sweet malt flavor develops

Pours copper/orange with an off-white head. The aroma is very nice with lots of vanilla, bourbon, toast, smooth thick wheat, caramel, some spicy hoppiness and a pretty heave alcohol presence. The fusel aspect keeps this from being a top notch aroma. Medium / full body with a minor amount of sharp carbonation. The alcohol presence is even heavier on the taste. The flavor starts is like a sharp version of the aroma. On the aroma everything was rounded , smooth and integrated. The taste has much more of a bite it it. It also has a cotton candy sort of taste to it. The finish has fusel alcohol and lots of phenolic spice. The beer is nice, but the alcohol is way too prevalent. Hopefully I can try one with a little age on it to see if it mellows out. This could be a great beer with the alcohol burn reduced.

750 ml bottle from Wine and Cheese Place. This is my rating from the initial tasting held at TWCP, working from mental notes. Pours a hazy orange-gold color, kind of a darker orange but not dark enough to be in amber territory. Small off-white head, quickly settling into bubbles along the edge. Big barrel notes hit right away from the aroma, with nice oak and vanilla along with caramel, brown sugar, dried fruits, and a wheaty, grainy note. The flavor has some definite heat from the barrel, not that the regular HOG is mild, along with the same sweet and malty and fruity notes. As this opens up and warms, I get a surprising amount of charred oak from the barrel. I’m not familiar enough with Knob Creek but maybe that’s one of the brand’s defining characteristics. Medium-bodied, with a sweet, oaky, warming mouthfeel and modest carbonation. Nice barrel aged barleywine. I’m resting one in the cellar for a while and I think this should get even better- and I’ll re-rate then.