Ranger Creek Small Batch Series No. 3

Brewed by Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling
Style: Barley Wine
San Antonio, Texas USA

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

375 ml. capped and waxed bottle. Bottled 10/09/12. Pours a thick, rapidly collapsing ivory head, with extensive lacing over a hazy, light amber (SRM 12) body.....nose is fruit oriented, with pear, peach, toffee/caramel, hints of barnyard.....taste is sweet with peach, toffee/caramel, light barnyard, minimal hop bitterness......mouth feel thick, chewy, sticky, alcohol heat present, carbonation low. This is a very different take on a Barley Wine. It is very sweet, remarkably fruit oriented in both aroma and flavor and does not seem particularly well balanced. An extra charge of the hops might have helped some. BJCP 7/2/13/4/6

Golden colored pour with a white head. Smokey nose, some orange, grass, and sweet peaches. Fruity esters, a bit of oak, vanilla, and some sweet malt. The flavor is malty and sweet up front with some caramel and peach notes. Light citrus, oak, vanilla, smoke, and a touch of grass. Kind of highly carbonated.

Brownish pour, light tan head. Flavors are muddled and Im sure this is infected. Lots of rotten fruit, old wood...not really so great.

Bottle from 10/8/12 thanks to bu11zeye. Pours with a hazy to murky golden hued body. Massive off-white head for such a big beer. Aromas are vinous, marmalade, dark fruits, leather, rich toffee with mild melanoidins, cotton candy, some dry oak (vanillin and lactone), quite a few esters. Interesting. Flavors are estery, leathery, plums, dark fruits, dates, light marmalade, currant (which I associate with sours), vinous, toasted oak and brown sugar. Very fruit forward. Boozy. Very lively carbonation, medium dry for how big it is (albeit it feels sticky at some moments), warming, low to medium tannin. High carbonation on 10% beer, huge ester, vinous, an rustic funk hints that this might have picked up some critters in the barrel. That said if the bottles stay relatively stable, I could see this actually aging pretty well for about 3-5 years.

Pours slightly cloudy brown passion fruit, raspberry color. Strong nose of banana, pineapple and mango. Fruity sweet flavor of strawberry, kiwi and pineapple. Overall, a decent brew with some complex flavors but nothing too exciting.

Bottled 10-8-12. Insanely cloudy appearance. Huge fluffy whie head that fades slowly. Nose is sort of acetic. Smells like a yeasty belgian saison. Nice peach / apricot nose and grape skins. I opened this and it smells like a wild beer. Darnit, it’s infected! Nice english yeastiness and bitterness. Malt profile is solid but it has the lacto and that just makes it weird. Grape skin and peach is nice but not in a barleywine.

Pure infection. Gusher, cheesy, funky and in a bad way. What a disappointment

500ml bottle from a locals trade. Slightly murky amber with a billowing off white head. Slightly fermented peach juice, grass, some candied Belgian sugars and yeast, oak notes, banana, slight wheat. High carbonation, moderate body, lots of fruit with some alcohol, vanilla, somewhat sweet and more alcohol on the finish with a bit of a bite. Wish I had another bottle or two of this to see how it aged but at 3 months its an interesting beer.

Infected big time. A huge gusher and complete drain pour. Seemed like it could be a nice beer, but not when its infected.

Aroma is malts, fruit, with hints of spice. Pours a hazy tea color with a rapidly dissipateing white head. The taste is malt, spice, oak, with notes of honey and citrus. There is also some hints of alcohol in the finish. Medium-light body soft carbonation. Overall, while not a big barley wine fan, I found this one to be very enjoyable.