Jack's Abby Brewery Maker

The Stats
Style: English Barleywine/ Euro Strong Lager
ABV: 13.5%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.19/5
- RateBeer: 3.62/5

"While we were building our new brewery we were aging this beer in bourbon barrels previously used for our Barrel-Aged Framinghammer Baltic Porter. Lengthy aging allows the 13.5% ABV beer to mellow and develop a deep molasses-like sweetness with port-like dark fruit flavors. This beer is a sipper- you’ve been warned!"

Previously, I have reviewed Jack's Abby Baby Maker and Bride Maker (both made my Top 10 of 2014), but now we have the Brewery Maker sitting on my table waiting to be reviewed.

Pours copper/mahogany red with a clear body and a finger of eggshell white head.

The aroma is bourbon-soaked raisins and oak. Plums, figs, and a multitude of dark fruits are pushing their way to the front of the line and there's a leathery smell to this too. A strong malt presence is noticeable at every turn.

I'd say the taste follows the aroma almost brick by brick. The bourbon has influence not just in the sweet, sticky bourbon itself, but this has some good char and oak from the barrel with even some tobacco. The ensuing melee is a dark fruit parade of raisins, figs, plums, dates, and cherries. I think if you tossed a Fig Newton into a blender with some bourbon, then the results may be similar. I don't own a blender, so I can't try that, but if I can make that work with my Hamilton Beach waffle maker, then we got a story going. On the transition there's a flavor similar to red wine and lots of red grape, but that bourbon adds a big kick on the back end. Also bringing Pepsi and Ring Dings to the party are some candy-like toffee and caramel, which add give this a dessert quality that I was not expecting. I'm even getting a bitter dark chocolate flavor to this too. Damn.

This is a big beer, no doubt, but amazingly it isn't hard to drink. A sipper for sure, but there's no alcohol taste at all and the body, while nice and thick, has tons of carbonation to move it along.

Brewery Maker combined the best parts of Doppelbocks and English Barleywines and then threw them into a bourbon barrel to create a beautiful baby. Really well-done BBA beers do great jobs of masking alcohol while producing stellar flavors and this is no exception. You'll have to sip for an hour or two, but man it is a smooth ride. These "Maker" beers (I don't know what to call them) are one of the best series Jack's Abby has to offer. I have loved each entry and Brewery Maker has won my affection.

Rating
9.2/10

Jack's Abby Bride Maker

The Stats
Style: Lager Wine/English Barleywine
ABV: 13.00%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.44/5
- RateBeer: 3.5/5

What we have here is the sequel to my favorite beer of all time. So, did Jack's Abby rest on their laurels and just release the same beer for the 2nd year in a row? Nope! Here is the description from the website...

"While Bride Maker is the same style of beer as Baby Maker, the recipe was reworked.  The main difference is the use of Special B malt to give it more color and body as well as notes of caramel, toffee and dark fruits. We feel that Bride Maker is a sweeter, more well rounded take on the style."

Oh, the anticipation is killing me!

The pour is considerably darker than last year's offering. It's a dark, rusty mahogany/burgundy reminiscent of English Barleywines. No head at all.

The aroma is quite the malt bomb with big dark fruits like raisins. As it warms up, I find hidden deep in back are some toffee and caramel. This must be said: This was barrel-aged? I pick up virtually no bourbon at all. It's almost the ghost of bourbon past.

Any booziness that existed in last year's batch is a distant memory. Holy crap is this smooth! Rich caramel greets you on the way in followed by tons of malt. There's a lot of fruitcake taste to this, almost as if I'm drinking a world-class doppelbock. A lot of raisin and even plum notes too. At the same time, the bourbon (thank God it showed up on the taste) ties everything together in a nice melting pot of flavor. Just spectacular!

As I said, no booziness anywhere. Good luck trying to find even a trace of that 13.00% because I think I killed my whole bottle in less than 30 minutes. This is supposed to be a sipper, but it's so delicious and smooth that I just can't help myself. It doesn't have a lot of carbonation and it feels thick and syrupy, but not cloying.

Comparing Bride Maker to last year's Baby Maker is tough. Both experiences yield different results. This year's offering isn't as prominent with the bourbon taste, but isn't as boozy either. The fact is that Bride Maker is a world class beer. It's a perfect combination of a doppelbock with dark fruits, malt, and fruitcake while at the same time sticking to the toffee and caramel sweetness that made me fall in love with last year's batch.

Barrel-aging this year's recipe resulted in a smooth ride with no alcohol presence. While I do wish there was more bourbon on the aroma and taste, I won't let that hold me back from calling this near-prefect beer in all aspects.

Rating
9.9/10

Jack's Abby Baby Maker

The Stats
Style: Lager Wine/Euro Strong Lager
ABV: 14.00%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.18/5
- Rate Beer: 3.68/5

When you think "Jack's Abby", you immediately think of a great lager. But what about a lager wine? What is a lager wine? I don't know. Depending on what site you research, Baby Maker is called a Euro Strong Lager, a Doppelbock, an English Barleywine, and God knows what else. So, what is my frame of reference for this beer? Nothing! And you know what, that's actually a good thing: going in with no idea what to compare it to. Anyway, Baby Maker (whatever it is) was aged for nine months in bourbon barrels previously used for BA Framinghammer. Recently, Jack's Abby released batch two of Baby Maker, but now calling in "Bride Maker" which has a slightly tweeked recipe. So, let's see how the original is before I see the sequel.

Pours a hazy, dark, rusty, blood orange that is bordering on copper or amber. Got one finger of an off-white head.

Woah! The aroma is amazing! HUGE toffee, caramel, and vanilla. The bourbon is right there in your face, but not with an alcohol sting, just pure sweetness. A considerable dark fruit/raisin presence and some oak too. It smells like nothing else I've ever had.

Calling the taste complex is an understatement. Big caramel and toffee are my first impressions. Vanilla is an accent rather than a main ingredient. There's a large fruit cake taste which is why I can see how people would call this a doppelbock. Tons of bourbon, a little bit of oak, and some raisins round everything out. Call me crazy, but I pick up a small, almost maple flavor too. What's great is that each flavor contributes equally and none of them are fighting for attention. Frankly, it's just delicious.

To me, it reminds me of a wheatwine with a think, syrupy mouthfeel. Although, this is also quite carbonated too. I don't think I've had a beer that had both. At 14.00%, I don't taste alcohol, but there is definitely a warming sensation in my chest on the finish. As thick as it is, the carbonation helps move the beer along and makes this quite drinkable. Seriously, my brain is telling me "Hey, slow down! This is 14.00%!". You could slug this down because it's so tasty, but I wouldn't recommend it.

I hate exaggerating when it comes to my reviews, nor do I want to use any hyperbole whatsoever, but if someone asked me what my favorite beer was at this moment, I'm pretty sure I would say Jack's Abby Baby Maker. There is so much flavor going on here that my words can't possibly do it justice. I've never had a beer with such a complex array of flavors combined with a thick, but carbonated mouthfeel that was so easily drinkable. There aren't any more superlatives I can bestow upon it. Drinking this is downright pornographic.

Rating
10/10