Redoak Special Reserve

$15 sample at Redoak. Tawny amber body with tinges of orange. Port characters of dried fruit on the nose. This was the easiest barley wine I have drunk (sampled really), it was smooth as and I couldn’t really notice the alcohol also I was expecting it more syrupy. Would love to try it fully though it is not easy to pop over to Sydney.

Yet another beer courtesy of the incredible generosity of Linc - thanks man! Nice dark brown, clear with not much carbonation and consequently not much head. Oxidation products initially jump out of the glass, but the really rough edges dissipate quickly and it starts to fit in well with an array of dried fruits, nuts and vinous oak. The aroma really reminds me of old Thomas Hardy’s, but better because it’s not so extreme. I inevitably find with beers like this that they smell better than they taste due to the intense sweetness and this one isn’t really an exception, though it’s done a lot better than some others. It starts with a real explosion of sweetness and dried fruits just like a muscat but it dries out in the middle sufficiently to make it drinkable. It’s weird, the dryness is kind of like soda water, it just disappears instead of getting bitter or sour or otherwise, but I’m glad it happens because it would otherwise be cloying. That said, there’s absolutely zero hop character and I think it would benefit from a bit. Alcohol is warming in a good way. Very nicely done, and completely different to all of Redoak’s other stuff - it’s a lot less linear. On the issue of price, I thought that half a bottle was probably a bit too much. So splitting a bottle three ways makes it seem a whole lot more reasonable. It would’ve been great with some cheese and dried fruits I think. Good on em.

credit where credit is due - this is a real achievement. brandy/calvados, oak, raisins, pleasant alcohol, trace of menthol in aroma. and it’s a bloody huge aroma. envelopes your head in vapours. in the mouth super-viscous rich malt fades slowly into plums/raisins/dates, which linger there for about half an hour afterwards. no sharp edges to this beer. like JW Lees harvest without the hops. a great dessert beer.

Bottle. Quite an interesting one, and quite different and a lot stronger than anything else being brewed in Australia. As Linc briefly mentions, this is heading somewhere along the lines of a Sam Adams Triple Bock. It has quite an oaky flavour, with notes of caramel/toffee, marmite, soy sauce and has quite salty finish to it. Quite warming, in terms of alcohol and fairly sweet, but not over the top given the strength of the beer. Interesting stuff.