6.3oz bottle (Millenium Edition)-Poured an orangish amber body with no head. Aroma of sweetness, dried fruit, caramel, and toffee. Taste of the same with a bit of tartness. This full bodied brew was one of the first barley wines I had tried. Not too bad.

Vintage 2005. Poured reddish / bronze with lots of sediment that floated around for a while. Very thin head that disapated quickly. Aroma of sweet caramel with some bourbon and rich vanilla notes. Initial tastes of rich caramel and liquor, very warm and smooth going down. Mouth warming and slightly bitter aftertaste. Overall it was great aged for this long. I originally bought it on clearance years ago for about .99 and tried one, not good at all - too young. If you have these sitting around, I would reccomend drinking them now, they have aged rather well!

Disclaimer: I am the recipe designer, and was the head brewer at Lakefront when the original vintage was made in 1997. I still have 20 bottles that have been properly stored (Closed case, stored in a cool basement.). Virtually no sediment in any bottle. Still carbonated. I only rated this beer to get my comment posted so you could have the vintage date. However, Lakefront continued to make this beer after I left in mid ’98, and according to employees was made with a modified recipe, so you may have a different vintage. The original recipe had a 5 hour boil to reduce the volume by nearly 50% of the sweet liquor collected from the sparge. All I know is that the vintage I have is still a tremendous brew according to those I have gifted recently. (i’m sober now.)

Thanks to Stan for bring this to our Friday beer tasting. We have no clue how old this is but it still is carbonated. It poured nice with a good caramel color and a slight cream colored head. The nose had some great sweet caramel aromas’ as well. The flavor was great, not much oxidation which was a little bit of a surprise. It has good sweetness to it so age treated it well. No alcohol heat left in it at all I don’t think the bottle would get any better so drink them if you got them. Serving type: bottle

26-Jan-11 (6.3-oz bottle: Obtained in trade with footbalm, thanks Eric!) Barleywines typically age nicely for my tastes, but this one hasn’t done as well as expected. Carefully decanted into the glass, the beer pours a hazy, dark-amber body with a large-bubbled "head" that looks more like spit than anything else, and it fully dissipates. The nose is caramely and fruity, but also highly earthy and a bit mushroomy, and not a good earthy, so the best aromas are pushed too far aside. A slightly better story on the palate, where the caramely, toasty and toffee-like flavors are offset by earth and sherry, but a bit of toasted coconut emerges in the finish. Medium in body and obviously low in carbonation, but the beer does show a bit of dryness. Not especially enjoyable any more and certainly past its prime, and though it’s not terrible, it’s pretty disappointing. I’m a big fan of aging certain beer styles such as barleywine, but this one has clearly underperformed in the cellaring department, possibly in part to the bottle’s diminutive nature – beer and wine tend to age more gracefully in larger format bottles.

little 6.3oz. bottle. bottle states 1987-1997 10th anniversary edition. not sure if it’s a 97 though. seems to be a lot of confusion. anyway,found it for $2.50 in IL on a clearance shelf. about an inch on the bottom of this tiny bottle was sediment. pours an amber/red with no head and no carbonation bubbles. looks pretty dead. malty caramel aroma with apple juice, licorice, herbal, and a faint hint of citrus. flavors of caramel, minty herbs, licorice. no sign of the alcohol. smooth palate.

Bottle... C&P’sLYFO Throwdown... Pours clear and amber with a small, white fat-bubbled head. The nose is odd – should smell like caramel, but comes across to me as a caramel and chicken broth blend. Full-bodied and a little syrupy with mild carbonation. Medium sherry, caramel malts and a touch of chocolate malt sweetness. Bittersweet, warming, very dry finish. Video = http://homepage.mac.com/maltajo/RATEBEER/iMovieThe

6.3oz. bottle, unknown vintage, but has been cellared for approximately 2 1/2 years. Sweet, almost candyish nose, with notes of caramel, toasted coconut, powdered sugar, maple, faintly herbal hop remnants and medicinal alcohol. Medium-dark amber color with a near to non-existent head, far from clear though I left as much of the sediment behind as possible and that turned out to be a good idea -- when poured it out, it had solidified to a frightening extent. Flavor is largely malt-oriented, plenty of darkly sugary sweetness throughout as well as hints of raisin and fading hop bitterness, finishing with suggestions of sherry and a moderate alcohol presence. Nearly still, warming and syrupy on the palate, body is certainly full. I found this interesting, ultimately.

<b><i>Millenium 2000 Special Edition</i></b>


<b>11/16/2008</b>: After reading through some of the reviews, I very carefully poured this beer and managed to get as clean as a pour as I believe possible. This beer looks like apricot-colored syrup while pouring and then has a ruddy, nearly opaque, walnut-colored appearance in the the glass. There is hardly any carbonation left at this point. Beer Line Barley Wine Style Ale has a sweet, caramelly, and highly alcohol-ladden aroma that is very much like a nice mead. Sweet, creamy caramel explodes in the flavor along with dates, well-aged fruit, lightly citrusy hops, and dried apricots. The alcohol is warming and not dominate in the flavor at all. It is nowhere near being astringent, rather it is very well integrated with the other flavors and carries brandy or cognac-like qualities. This full-bodied beer is smooth, creamy, and mellow. This beer has aged remarkably well and I don’t think that this beer can get any better. It is simply excellent right now!

<i>6.3 fl. oz./187 mL punted bottle (50 IBU, Unfiltered, 29° Plato) from Belmont Party Supply in Dayton, Ohio. Rating #113 for this beer...</i>

6oz. bottle. At least three years old, don’t know exactly. Pours nice dark brown, very little head. Nice malty smell,sweet candy taste, very smooth.