Widmer Brothers Brewing Barrel Aged Brrrbon 2011

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Widmer Brothers Brewing Barrel Aged Brrrbon 2011. After reviewing the 2012 Brrrbon I found this 2011 Brrrbon at a decent price ($9.99). Since I enjoyed the 2012 version I wanted to see what the difference was.

From the Widmer Brothers Brewing website: “BARREL AGED BRRRBON '11 IS A SMOOTH WINTER WARMER AND THE FIRST RELEASE AS PART OF THE ALCHEMY PROJECT. FOLLOWING THE INITIAL BREWING PROCESS OF BRRR, THE BEER WAS GIVEN A FRESH CHARGE OF HOPS DURING SECONDARY FERMENTATION AND THEN PUT INTO KENTUCKY BOURBON BARRELS AND AGED FOR FOUR MONTHS. AFTER BARREL AGING, THE BEER WAS ALLOWED A TERTIARY FERMENTATION FOR FINAL CONDITIONING BEFORE RELEASE."

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a dark reddish orange with a decent beige head and decent lacing.

Aroma: Oak, bourbon, vanilla, sweet caramel malts, bready malts, citrus and dark fruits.

Taste: Sweet toasted and caramel malts, spices, vanilla, dark fruits, oak, bourbon and a peppery hop presence.

Overall: Widmer Brothers Brewing’s Barrel Aged Brrrbon 2011 is a solid beer. At 9.5% ABV the alcohol is undetectable. I really enjoy bourbon barrel aged beers. I don’t think I would pay the premium for the 2011 (if I find it for $9.99 again perhaps). Interestingly enough a local store is now selling the 2012 for the same price as the 2011 ($13.99) and that’s just TOO steep for this one.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey