Coney Island Human Blockhead - Barrel Aged
This might be the most unique barrel aged lager you will find. Brewed like a barley wine but fermented as a lager then aged on fresh wet Buffalo Trace barrels for 5 months.
3.8
159 reviews
Brooklyn, United States
Community reviews
A bit of a malt bomb with strong vanilla, oak, and caramel flavors. Sweet, smooth, and has notes of figs, raisins, and cookies.
Pours half a glass of foam. Very frothy. Its got that thick amber color characteristic of a bock. The rick amber nose is drowned in alcohol. The flavor is malty sweet alcohol finished with tinge. As for the barrel aging, why? Maybe its added some vanilla to this alcoholic bock. ewww.
Bottle (bottled 5/2012)
Aroma: Vanilla, alcohol, dark malts
Appearance: Clean, dark reddish/brown with slightly off white head
Taste: Caramel, vanilla, alcohol, dark fruit
Palate: Medium body, slightly on the chewy side. Mouth numbing alcohol.
Overall: Really nice... the lighter base allows the bourbon barrel to come out, and also makes this easier drinking. Really pleasantly surprised in terms of overall taste and complexity.
light brown, tan head with short retention. huge toffee, vanilla, molasses, oak, smoke, raisin, bourbon is fairly absent after pouring but makes its appearance when sipping. a little buttery. cloyingly sweet, medium bitter. full body, thick feel.
A barrel aged lager, ok. Pours a hazy brownish red with no real head or lacing. Aroma is whiskey, vanilla, oak, and sweet toffee. Taste follows, exactly what you would expect from a barrel aged doppelbock. No real booziness except from the bourbon, which is nice.
Batch 2 5/25/2012. Poured into point glass, makes me wish I had a snifter. Pour is cherry Amber. Head disappeared quick. Malty nose with caramel and some vanilla somewhere and alcohol. Bold bourbon highlights accent a pleasingly mellow body that is barleywine-esk. This will hit hard with 10.83%. Way you easy to drink. I know I shouldn’t, but I judge beers by their labels. This one just looked too cool and artsy and in my experience so far I’ve been more impressed with their at than their beer. I’ve found an exception. Cool art, great beer. Also just read that this is nonprofit? To defend and honor last forms of art and culture leading the renaissance in Brooklyns historic concert island neighborhood. Cool
Batch 2. Bottle dated 5/25/2012, so about a year on this one. Pours deep reddish brown with a yellowish brown hues head. Looks like a thick barleywine. Aroma is huge vanilla, bourbon, caramel, toffee and maye even licorice. Crazy nose. Taste follows with huge vanilla noted and some alcohol warmth that is nicely mellow. Bit of licorice and toffee and pretty sweet but not cloying. This surprised the hell out of me. Wow. Medium heavy mouthfeel (not quite barleywine thick) with low to medium carbonation that keeps it from being syrupy. Very impressed here with unbelievable barrell infusion.
Pouring at the Saturday sessions of Extreme Beerfest. Pours a clear amber brown with a thin beige head. Light wood on the nose, caramel and sweetness. Toast, wood, bourbon. Cloying. Sweet wood and bourbon. Way too sweet.
Bomber poured a clear reddish amber with a lasting amber head. Aromas bourbon, carmel, molasses, light oak and light fruittiness. Palate was medium bodied and smooth. Flavors of bourbon,carmel, oak, brown sugar and light futtiness with a smooth lingering bourbon finish.
gone through a few bottles, and probably one of the nicest lagers i’ve had in years .. . deep sugary caramel, bourbon, and booze .. . pretty sturdy mouth for a doppel .. . a delicious mess of a beer! .. . .
sure thing, shoot timmy
danny
Tap at Dexters. Unfiltered deep brown. Sweet bourbon barrel flavor, rich and resinous, but never quite overwhelming. Vanilla, amber, woody caramel tones. Brown sugar, molasses. Big and full bodied, a beast of a beer. Tasty.
Clear copper color with small head and decent lacing. Big sweet malt aroma with some woody character. Also some herbal tea aroma and brown sugar. Taste same as aroma with dark brown sugar and toasted malt with vanilla from barrel and alcohol flavor Full oily mouthfeel that finishes sweet. Nice big Dopplebock.
2012 bomber to snifter. Pours a medium brown with red highlights. Aroma is malt with a tomato/vegetable smell and some woodiness. Brown sugar taste with some barrel quality and some vanilla. Alcohol is apparent. Thin oily mouthfeel.
Dark iced tea color with a little cream head that dissipates quick. A tomato, brown sugar, malt , dirt, cardboard wood smell. Sweet dark brown sugar, then the barrel kicks in with a little overwhelming wood character, with some vanilla and nuttiness and some alcohol kick.
1/26/13. Bomber from Grassroots Natural Market. I’ve never had the regular version, so... here goes! Mostly clear red pour with an interesting head... as I was beginning the pour, the head was small, loose, soapy, and frothy, so I started pouring harder. Then the head slowly developed as I poured hard, almost like a nitro head develops. Anyway, I ended up with 2 inches of beer and 5 inches of head. My bad. After sitting a bit, I was left with plenty of beer and a solid 2 fingers of tan head that cut in half, stuck, and laced a TON. Plenty of yummy barrel goodness in the aroma... I’m getting nice coconut, buttery vanilla, oak, caramel, a touch of boozey whiskey, and some dark fruits, molasses, and brown sugar. Rich, sweet flavor hits right away with a ton of caramel, molasses, and dark fruits. The barrel aging hits soon after with more sweet, tons of caramel, some coconut, whiskey, and oak. Mostly the flavor lingers sweet with lots of caramel. The aroma was more promising than the sweet delivery. Not bad.
Astringent, alcoholic taste and smell. Nice robust hop profile with pine and floral notes. Some caramel notes in the aroma but they are largely overpowered by the hops in the flavor.
Slight bourbon aroma with solid maltiness very sweet, very mild hop taste a great bock with no alcohol heat
Great reddish copper hue
Bottled 5/25/12
Consumed 1/12/13
22oz bottle. Clear amber brown with a fizzy, beige head. Aroma of bourbon, oak, caramel/toffee, vanilla and lightly fruity. Flavor is boozy bourbon and vanilla, oak tannins and sweet toffee. Medium body with prickly carbonation. This is a good beer with lots of bourbon character but don’t see this as a bock, more of an American strong or barley wine.
Bomber @ Kaj. Pours clear mahogany with a small beige head leaving laces. Aroma is malty raisins toasted alcohol. Flavor is sweet sweet alcohol malty vanilla raisins bitter. Finishes bitter sweet fruity.
The beer pours a brown color with an off-white head. The aroma has some nice bourbon notes, as well as some toffee, caramel and oak. The flavor is similar. The bourbon whiskey character really stands out, but it is accompanied by some vanilla, oak and maple character. I also get some toffee and caramel from the base beer. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.
The end of a bleary-eyed and destructive night. Pours a fairly clear deep amber-crimson with a sizable eggshell-toffee head. Nose of bourbon, butter, vanilla, woody, mostly just barrel notes. I wrote maple and cinnamon also, but that could have been a bleed-over from some other crap I drank that night. Taste is very sweet, almost too sweet. Warm with alcohol, tingly, sticky, viscous, boozy. An experience spoiled by extreme drunkenness and the accompanying embarrassment. But hey, I got the bottle for free which is awesome considering the hefty sticker price. But if you have to pay for it, I would say save your money and get something else. And by all means, don’t drink strong beers all goddamn day and then have this as a night cap. Yikes.
22oz., bottled 5/25/12. Strongly malty aroma, sweet and fruity with notes of bourbon, oak, brown sugar, cotton candy, raisin, licorice, dark bread and medicinal alcohol, with a faint hint of pineapple in the background. Clear medium deep amber color, with a fine, persistent off-white head and very intricate lacing to match. Flavor profile is hugely malty and complex, sugary, rich, bready and full with plenty of caramel and powdered sugar, vanilla, licorice, tobacco, bourbon and oak, faint cherry and a light to moderate degree of bitterness that appears late, alongside the strong, peppery, alcoholic tones. Mouthfeel is lightly syrupy, warming and quite full with a massive body. Rather complex and tasty. It seems to me that this is far more appropriate for a cold late December night such as tonight, than its early Summer release date reflects.
Coney Island Barrel Aged Human Blockhead has a thick, frothy, tan head, a clear, copper appearance, with bubbles sticking to the sides of the glass, and some thick, sticky lacing left on the glass. The aroma is of sweet, strong bourbon whiskey, wood, and a touch of vanilla. Taste is of the same, with some fig and dates, a slight bitterness, alcohol, and sugar. Mouthfeel is medium to thick and syrupy. Coney Island Barrel Aged Human Blockhead finishes semi-dry, strong, alcohilic, and sipper-oriented. Overall, this is a fabulous, rich, and complex beer, and I think it is outstanding! RJT
Bottle from Whole Foods in Sonoma. Aroma and flavor of bourbon, asa, etc. not a tone to say about the dynamics of this one. Bourbon played a big part. Pretty good beer.
Draft @ Meadhall, Cambridge, MA. They used a standard Hebrew pint glass. Nose is bourbon with piles of sweet malts and light oak. The taste reminds me of a barely wine in a lot of ways. Rich flavor with hints of big caramel malts, vanilla, and bourbon with the oak flavor in the finish. Mouthfeel is medium in body with a syrupy, dry texture. Lots of warming alcohol on the way down your throat. Carbonation was average amount. This is a sipper for sure. Rating number 1500 since joining Ratebeer.com on a very memorable night in Cambridge, MA
Experienced beer nerds probably have tried imperial bocks at some point, but why aren’t these beers barrel aged? Well now they are, and Coney Island Barrel Aged Human Blockhead is an excellent example of how great a barrel aged lager can be. A beer so good it could single-handedly change the industry.
I poured a 22oz bomber into a tulip glass.
Appearance: Gorgeous burgundy/cherry red hue with a touch of orange. Forms a surprisingly large, yellowish, frothy head that retains and laces extremely well.
Smell: Almost too many notes to list, but basically a massive sweetness complemented by distinct alcohol presence.
Taste: Though technically a doppelbock, Coney Island Barrel Aged Human Blockhead drinks like a strong English-style barleywine in more ways than one. It has absolutely no qualities to it that you would find in most beers of the sort. Clearly, the bourbon barrels have had a massive affect on the palate here. Much like rare imperial stouts that use the method - the end result is absolutely delicious. To call it a "malt bomb" would be an understatement. This beer almost drinks like a higher end liqueur or spirit.
As soon as it hits the tongue the palate is enveloped in a melange of rich fruit flavors and confectionery sweetness. Cherry, vanilla, caramel, toffee, and butterscotch are all prominent - each individually distinguishable and they all work perfectly with each other. There’s little to no bitterness, though the alcohol is a major player as it imparts flavors of spiced rum and vanilla extract, plus its natural warmth (which is a bonus - not a distraction). I know some people will find this too intense "fresh," and while I’m sure it’ll age gracefully, I think it’s fantastic right off the shelf. Though it carries a high price tag, it’s still a good deal.
Drinkability: If I had to find a flaw with Coney Island Barrel Aged Human Blockhead it would be the fact it’s an absolute sipper. This isn’t surprising consider it’s a hefty brew at 10.83% ABV, though I’d attribute the low drinkability more to the robustness of the palate rather than the alcohol (which has a gentle, but firm, warmth rather than a raw burn). The mouthfeel itself is soft and comfortable. It’s a noticeably thick brew for sure, leaving a slightly bitter/slightly syrupy aftertaste, but it goes down remarkably smooth. Be sure to split a bottle with someone who deserves it on a special occasion.
Boomer,smooth pour over whelming smell of carmel and bourbon I enjoyed but in smaller servings
Tap at strageways. The look is amber in color, nice thick beige colored head, and opaque. The smell is vanilla, barrell, wood, alcohol, heavy, and strong. The taste is strong, alcohol, wood, tannins, whiskey and vanilla.
Bottle. Moderate to heavy malt aromas of cereal and caramel, light to moderate herbs for the hops, light dough for the yeast, with hints of dates, raisin, brown sugar and bourbon. Head is small, frothy, light tan with fair lacing and is mostly diminishing. Color is sparkling clear mahogany. Flavor starts moderately to heavily sweet and lightly acidic, then finishes moderately sweet and bitter. Palate is on the fuller side of medium, syrupy with a carbonationbetween soft and lively then finishes heavily alcoholic and chewy. Damn, this is like an exact mix of a Doppelbock and a Bourbon.
Bomber. Dark brown with a light tan head. Very boozy alcohol nose with some slight chocolate notes. Taste is a bit sweet, with some spiciness and hot boozy notes. Malt balances this out well. Delicious.