Block 15 Brewing Company Golden Ticket

10.75% ABV Bottled January 2018
Beer Advocate score - 3.96/5 (1 review)
Untappd score 4.12/5

22C. American Barleywine

A well-hopped American interpretation of the richest and strongest of the English ales. The hop character should be evident throughout, but does not have to be unbalanced. The alcohol strength and hop bitterness often combine to leave a very long finish.

This week, I was feeling extra rich. I garnered some extra money by putting my asthma to work which allowed me to splurge a little on this weeks (and next weeks) brew. As you recall from last week, The Bier Stein is the best place to go when one wants to splurge, so that is where I headed. Man o man was it tough to decide on just one bottle to buy... so I bought two! This weeks review is a Golden American Barleywine matured in Cognac Barrels. Definitely drool worthy, am I right? On to the review!

Aroma: Little to no hop aroma. First whiff is honey with a little fruit, possibly fig and raisin. I detect a little bit of a sweet booziness (obviously).  8.50

Appearance: A lovely clear copper. The creamy white head quickly dissipates, leaving a little lacing.  8.50

Flavor: A little bit of orange at the forefront, possibly from the hops that were used. The Orange gives way to a nice sweet honey and a hint of vanilla. A little bit of burnt sugar/caramel at the back end that trails of with some booziness (obviously).  9

Mouthfeel: Light carbonation with a medium-heavy body. A smooth finish. Surprisingly drinkable for the high ABV.  8.25

Overall: I've had a few brews from Block 15 but none of them have compared to this one. With such a high ABV, I would not expect it to be so balanced. All the flavors go so well together and it goes down really easy. If I had more than one bottle of this, I could easily drink another one. Dangerous stuff.  8.5

Matt's mark: 4.28/5

Today I started a new project. The job tasked to me is making an imperfect bench for the imperfect front porch, which I built a few years ago, in the front of the house. I love to build things even though the projects never go as planned. If there is one thing wood working has taught me it's that I am definitely not a carpenter. But the feeling of accomplishment is not matched by anything else... except maybe pushing my body to its limits and finishing with a high ABV beer. Which is what I did today! What a coincidence! Not the pushing my body to its limits part of course. Apparently, the Beer Advocate crowd has not caught wind of this spectacular brew as there has only been on review... and it was a little low. Really? Not even a 4/5? Psshh. The Untappd crowd though, they know what they are talking about. Myself, let's face it, I had to try extra hard to find faults with this brew so I wouldn't give it a 5... no beer is perfect... except the brews I make... I kid, I kid. Okay, I better stop now 'cause it's getting hard to type as I can't feel my fingers anymore... or my brain. Wait, are you suppose to feel your brain? Whew!