Widmer Brothers Reserve Barrel Aged Brrrbon

Brewed by Widmer Brothers Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Portland, Oregon USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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Pours rusty with burnt orange highlights and a smallish off-white head. Aroma is subtle, but there’s caramel, wood, toffee, vanilla (small amount), pecans, leaves, and old hops. Flavor is also subtle for bourbon barrel-aged beers with some caramel, toast, wood, vanilla, well defined "toasted oak juice" flavors, nuts and moderate earthy hops. Finishes with a balance of wood, toffee, vanilla, toast, and warmth. There’s a mild amount of heat, but it’s kinda pleasant. Medium bodied, subtly flavored, but I don’t know if the base beer is strong enough to pull this off. A bit boring, but wonderfully balanced.

Draft at Fermentation. Deep amber pour with a small white head. Aroma is very sweet vanilla, oak, bourbon, caramel malts with lingering dark fruits. Flavor is burnt caramel sugars, vanilla, oak and more bourbon. Medium to heavy bodied with warming alcohol and a slightly dry finish.

22 ounce bottle, Fall 2010 (stamp on bottle says October 2010) vintage. Served in a nonic pint glass, the beer pours a reddish/copper color with about an inch light tan head. Head retention and lacing are both good. Aroma is a bit boozy, the brew smells like bourbon, vanilla, coconut, caramel malt and some dark fruit. It tastes like bourbon, vanilla, caramel malt, coconut, and a little bit of sweet spices and dark fruit. But the bourbon flavor in this brew is stronger compared to the other ones. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it’s coating, smooth, and has moderate carbonation. Aging this brew for a little more than a year certainly hasn’t hurt it. I thought it was good, now I might have to buy a bottle of the 2011 version to try.

Thanks again to Chipalsa for sharing this one. Bomber into snifter. Aroma is a lot of bourbon, some wood, vanilla, and a touch of fruit. Not bad at all. Tastes like a lot of caramel, some vanilla, butterscotch-like notes, lots of malt and some bourbon. This one poured a clear brown with a white head. Not a bad brew by any means.

Draft at Moriartys. Clear dark amber pour with a foamy head that left quickly. Lots of big bourbon notes on the nose. Tastes of burnt sugar cane. Wood chips. Kerosene. Red pepper. Plum wine. Touch of vanilla extract. Medium-light palate, maybe a bit too thin to hold the darker notes. Still beats most winter seasonals.

I never thought I would drink a Widmer Brothers beer that I enjoyed because I always based my opinion on their widely distributed Hefeweizen.... This has changed it.... Malty and caramel flavor well balanced by oak and vanilla notes, nice bourbon finish... Solid beer

Amber pour from bottle with an off white head. Aroma is booze and sugar. Taste is wood, whiskey and some grass. Complex and interesting, really nice on a cold winters night.

After cellaring a bottle of this for about 10 months, I opened it a few nights ago. Colour... medium brown with a reddish hue. Nose... quintessential dried fruit and toffee with hints of vanilla. Palate... very little CO2 here but a generous serving of butterscotch, boiled sweets, vanillin and oaky dryness to go with the delicate Bourbon character.

Hazy orange copper color in the glass. I can totally pickup the caramel and vanilla nose. Excellent! Kind of a bright citrusy alcohol flavor with a definite a bourbon aftertaste. Overall, very nice. A good easy drinking brew that hides it’s 9.4% ABV very well with the aroma and flavor. I’ll have to pickup some more of this!

Bottle from somewhere in 2011. As far as bourbon-barrel offerings, this one is thin, yet still a quality offering. Aroma and flavor of bourbon and sweet malt. Quite enjoyable beer. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone