North Coast Old Stock Cellar Reserve - Brandy Barrel

Old Stock Cellar Reserve is a small batch, limited release that has been aged in brandy barrels. The aging process gives this world-class beer an added layer of complexity. A memorable drink that should be enjoyed as a completely unique offering. Originally 14.7 ABV.

4.2

391 reviews

Fort Bragg, United States

Community reviews

4.2 500ml bottle enjoyed @ home, 2011 vintage. Pours murky brownish with a quick fading tan head. Aroma is is plums, prunes, raisins, dates, chocolate, caramel, port wine, nutty, vanilla, oak and quite vinous. Flavour is medium sweet, slightly boozy. Medium to full bodied, rather thin texture, average carbonation. Finish is warming alcohol, vinous and lots of dark dried fruits.

4.4 Found some old ratings on paper from an unknown date... Thanks Mike. Pours to a murky dark brown body with no head. The aroma is strongly English malts. Light apple brandy meets clean grains. The flavor is extremely complex with tons of sweet English malts, nice tobacco, and light brandy. English walnuts. The palate is full of sweet caramelized goodness. Medium full body with a creamy texture.

4.4 Bottle [from trade with Heyta, thanks!] @ weekly tasting shared with Joes. Nice medium dark red color, average sized quickly diminishing beige head. Aroma is malts, brandy, slightly nuts, raisins, dark fruits, oak, slightly vanilla. Taste malts, loads of brandy again, nuts, raisins, dark fruits, oak and vanilla. It’s all present in the aroma as well as in the flavor. Alcohol in the flavor as well, it’s quite heavy and strong. Sweetish, dark fruit sweetness, definitely an oak touch to it as well. Incredibly tasty!

4.1 Sampled at Brews For New Avenues 2015 - Pours tawny brown with a beige head. The aroma has coconut, brandy, port, caramel, toffee, toast, cream, dark fruit and berries. It has a medium / full rich body with light semi-sharp carbonation. The flavor starts with dry caramel / toffee and dry rye bread. The finish has lots of barrel notes and coconut. Very nice.

4.0 Poured from a 500 ml bottle, cellar reserve 2011. Aroma is malt and booze. Moderate brandy notes with light oak. Quite a bit of dark caramel and toffee with lighter toasted bread and treacle. Moderate raisin, fig and prune. Pours a very merry, muddy-like, brown with a bit of an auburn hue and a small, thin, tan head that quickly recedes to the edges. No lacing and moderate legs. Flavor is fairly sweet with quite a bit of caramel and toffee. Medium light toasted bread notes. Moderate treacle with a hint of chocolate and roast. Medium high bitterness. Some moderately strong notes of raisins, figs, prunes and plums. Medium light brandy and light oak notes. Hints of alcohol. Mouthfeel is medium full bodied with low carbonation. Low astringency and medium to medium low alcohol warmth. Overall, a pretty tasty beer, but its also very sweet and slightly boozy. Nice fruit notes that work well to integrate the brandy and malt. Very enjoyable and complex, but also too sweet to enjoy too much of.

4.0 500ml bomber from Sonoma Cellars, cellar aged 1 year. Had during the Wedding Weekend and shared by all on the wedding night. Reddish brown pour. Nose is big fruits, sweet caramel, light nut. Taste is sweet raisin, big vanilla, nut. Medium to full bodied and boozy. Finishes sweet, fruity, and long. Fairly big fan. 15.7

4.2 2011. Bottle to glass. Pours a deep brown reddish color with a thin light tan head. Aroma is huge dark fruits, molasses. Flavor is quite boozy, but very smooth. Alcohol burn only in the finish in the chest. Very nice. Thanks Taylor!

4.4 500ml bottle shared thanks to Lukaduke! Pours viscous dark brown with small head. Nose is deep and rich, sweet nutty raisin, lots of tawny port and madeira notes, cocoa and butterscotch. Palate is ultra creamy, viscous, old leathery dark fruit, caramel, vanilla cream, nutty, spice, toast, malt. Finishes sweet with rich sticky maple, caramel, raisin, chocolate, super complex and chewy. So good!

3.6 Smells like heavy alcohol with some caramel malt sweetness. Taste is heavy booze as well but it does have some really nice caramel and toffee flavors in there. Full body, low carbonation, and hot.

4.4 Bottle from my cellar, pours the part with a light khaki head. Big sweetness from the brandy, some chocolate. Full body but smooth. Yeah, u got in Billy D.

3.9 500 ml bottle. Cheers veliemboys. Pours a dark amber colour with a small head. Aroma of toasted malts, nuttiness, wood and some green apples. Flavour of sweet caramel malts, wood, some red berries, green apples, burnt toffee, mild vanilla and quite heavy alcohol notes. Full bodied and soft mouthfeel. Finishes warming, sweet and quite complex with it’s fruitiness. Numbs your mouth. Very sweet and strong. Could work as a dessert.

4.3 Catching up on notes. 2011 brandy barrel vintage shared by a buddy on July 6, 2014. Pours brown with red highlights and a thin layer of beige head. Excellent AROMA of butterscotch, thick thick toffee, molasses, and some sticky port wine. FLAVOR of thick sticky caramel, nice vanilla, brown sugar, sweet brandy, more butterscotch, and light booze. The huge ABV is almost completely hidden though a little booze is noticeable. Actually surprisingly light in body for 15.2%. Excellent, and very glad to have tried this. (362, 956)

4.1 50 cl bottle. 2011 vintage. Pours clear dark red color with a small head. Very sweet aroma with lots of ripe fruits, kind of mead-like notes, syrupy, maybe some honey too. Sweet caramel malt dominant flavor with syrup and molasses, a bucket load of ripe fruits, lots of malty body to back up the sweetness. Lingering sweet fruity aftertaste. A slow sipper definitely, I like it. Yes, I like booze, so sue me. 6326

4.0 50 cl bottle vintage 2011 (15,2%) @ olio Aroma has cellar tones, ripe fruits, vanilla and raisins. Intensive sniffing: only sugary sweet raisins. Flavour starts with some odd plastic aroma but then turns into strong porto, sweet sugary tones, raisins, ripe fruits and some sherry. Also vanilla is present. Warming alcohol tones in the finish. After some sips all I taste is raisins and alcohol. Nice slow sippin’ sherry or porto, but a beer? Not sure if.

3.8 500ml bottle from Healthy Spirits, San Francisco, CA 2011 vintage - Pours dark brown, almost black with a small head. Aroma of raisin, ripe berries, sweet malts, syrup, brandy, stingy wood, oak and apples. Taste is complex, vinous, sweetish, heavy and syrupy with loads of port and brandy notes, ripe apples, stingy wood, oak, toffee and caramel. Finish is complex, vinous and layered with loads of ripe apples, port notes, toffee, caramel, oak and vanilla. Tastes more like a dessert wine than a beer. Complex and an extremely slow sipper.

4.2 Bottle ’11 - dark brown pour. brandy, vanilla, burnt brown sugars, and alcohol in the nose. Caramel, brown sugars, malty, brandy, vanilla, oak flavors. It’s nice.

5.0 The 2011 verison was the best beer I’ve ever had the pleasure of drinking. Calling this a smooth tasting beer is a under statement. The color, the smell, the taste man-o-man perfection if there is a better beer you’ll have to prove it to me.

3.9 Bottle - 500mL corked and caged. 2011 Vintage. Murky opaque brown pour with a short tan head. Aroma is brandy, grape skins, caramel, booze, brown sugar, soft wood and candy notes. Taste is grape skins, wine, caramel, sweet malt, brown sugar notes, soft woodiness, booze and hops. Body is medium with a moderate, prickly carbonation. Ends with more brandy notes, grapes, booze, caramel, brown sugar, hops, sweet malt, toasted dark bread and faint wood notes.

4.4 February 22, 2015 - bottle from Blue Max, 2011 vintage. Relatively dark brown pour with limited head that faded quickly. Aroma was brandy, caramel sweetness and butter. Some dark fruit and vanilla came out as this warmed. Taste started with the sugary and fruity sweetness, which is then over powered by a blast of dry alcohol/brandy that lingers for quite a while after going down. Glad I have another bottle to see if this smooths out a bit with some more age. Second bottle consumed on 11/18/16 - this smoothed out nicely. Bumped this up to a 4.4 from a 3.8.

4.6 2011 vintage. Huge Brandy aroma with notes of figs, molasses, chocolate and apples. Deep mahogany and ruby. Super smooth with a tinge of welcome alcohol heat. Dark candied fruits, vanilla and some coconut mingle with the brandy and barrel. This is outstanding in every way.

3.5 Refrigerated 0.5 L brown 2011 vintage bottle corked and capped poured into a snifter. Opaque dark brown with very little beige head which dissipates quickly completely. Aroma is brandy, medium body, very low carbonation, and no lacing. Taste is molasses, whiskey, figs, oak, caramel, some vanilla, some maple and alcohol. Complex, but alcohol is not covered and pretty heavy. I prefer Bourbon County Barleywine.

4.1 Poured from bottle, 2011 vintage, pours a murky dark brown with an almost red tint to it and a thin light brown head, the aroma has a lot going on, quite a bit of dark fruit and malt mixed in with a strong amount of vanilla and brandy sweetness with quite a bit of the barrel coming through, the flavor has a nice dark fruit front end, not overly sweet but the brandy and some vanilla show in the finish as well, pretty big, good stuff.

4.4 500 ml bottle from Homer321 - thanks a ton for sending this, Sean! This is the vintage marked 2011 on the neck and label, but that the brewery released in 2013. Pours a cloudy amber color with a small off-white head. Notes of caramel, brown sugar, oak, toast, marshmallow, maple syrup, coconut, dried fruits (raisins, dried berries, figs, dates), and a slightly warming brandy throughout. Medium-bodied, with moderate carbonation and a sweet, malty, warming, not quite coating mouthfeel. It’s all of those things as well as beautifully rich without being cloying, abrasive, or hot. Incredibly well done. Exceeded my high expectations and is absolutely worthy of its place in the RateBeer top 50 (as of this rating).

4.3 500ml bottle, big thanks to phaleslu for sharing. Amazing, huge aroma in the nose. Seeing a lot of maple syrup, pretty impressive amount of that, really interesting. Dark brown, red color. Kind of hazy. Minimal amount of off-white head. Really nice visible legs. Bigger body. Kind of slick, lighter carbonation. Light dry in the finish. Moderate to bigger sweet taste, not cloying at all. Moderate bitter. Hides the alcohol astonishingly well. Mild warmth, but nowhere near the burn or bite that you’d expect for the ABV. Wonderful, amazing stuff. Super-tasty aroma for a sweeter barleywine. Extremely satisfying to sip on. Very pleasant warmth on the end.

4.2 2011 Vintage Tasted on 12/25/14 from a corked and caged 500mL bottle purchased at Liquor Barn in Bowling Green. Pours nearly opaque dark cola brown with an average, fizzy brown head that disappears rather quickly. The nose is really developed, tons of vanilla brandy, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, cocoa, bitter chocolate, maple, and just a bit of soy sauce oxidation. The flavor is darker with molasses, cocoa, and a touch of milk chocolate up front, moving to tons of vanilla, maple, caramel, and then some of the bitter dark chocolate and touch of roast, and the lightest nutty hint showing the age much less than on the nose. The body is very full without being cloying, with light, just the right amount of carbonation, and a very long vanilla, maple, and caramel brandy finish. Glad to have this as my Christmas 2014 whale.

3.9 Murky brown pour with a thin quickly fading tan head. Aroma is sticky dates, molasses, wood, and earth. Taste is sweet and boozy with strong date, molasses, and wood notes with some earthiness and light spice in the background. Full slick texture with a good deal of alcohol warmth.

3.9 2011 vintage. Pours a copper-brown, dark golden hues minimal tan head that dissipates quickly into spotty lacing. Aromas are of wafting alcohol, dark fruits, oak, barley and sweet brandy. Taste is similar to the nose, though not as hot as expected. A nice dark fruit/molasses upfront, melding into nice notes of whole grain, vanilla, oak and then the brandy rounding it back out with a nice sweetness. Good stuff!

4.2 Bottle, Vertical tasting with 2014 old stock, 2012 ostuchi, 2011 Brandy, 2009 Bourbon. All pour similar murky brown with the BA versions being fairly low carb. Aroma is dark fruits, sweet brandy and grape, smooth booze and rich malts. solid!

3.9 Bottle at my parentals with me my Dad. 2011 vintage. Pour is murky brown with a small tan head. Sweet Brandy, grapey, sweet caramel, sweet dates, doughy, lightly roasty, and figs in the aroma. Taste is extremely sweet, caramel, brown sugar, some figs, raisins, tangy, okay, lightly alcoholic, and earthy with a light burn on the backend. Slick mouthfeel with soft carbonation. Very smooth and easy to drink, though a touch on the sweet side for me.

4.2 500 ml bottle from a tasting (2011 vintage)from notes. Pours a dark reddish copper color with a small beige ring; not much carbonation. The aroma is about what I would have expected: rich caramel, brandy, vanilla, wood, some ripe fruits, and perhaps a touch of brown sugar. There was some booze, but I expected more. The flavor was much of the same: sweet caramel, vanilla, brandy, wood and ripe fruits. Again, the booze works with this. Medium-full to full bodied, smooth.