5 Seasons North Cloud 9 Barleywine

Brewed by 5 Seasons North
Style: Barley Wine
Alpharetta, Georgia USA

Bottle courtesy of daknole. Pours brown with a white head. Smells of oak, sweet malt, resiny, maple. Tastes of chewy malt, dry, citrussy. Nice thick mouthfeel with a bitterness on the finish that is prevelant but not overdone. A rare hoppy American barleywine I enjoyed.

This is a hoppy barleywine, maybe one of the first, a reincarnation of the old Dogwood. Gift of the brewer as it was no longer on tap.

Lots of flavor. Very rich aroma. A strong palate. It has a bitter end and you can really feel the alcohol in your tongue. Like they said: This beer is excess in a glass.

Appearance: Pours a cloudy, dark amber body with a bubbly, off-white head. Just look at those legs! Smell: Rich, sweet-smelling creme caramel aroma with notes of cinnamon, fruit, and a distant, faroff earthiness. Taste: Wonderfully malty. Dark caramel, brown sugar, and fresh cinnamon with a lush, dessert-like sweetness. Rum-soaked plum fruitiness. Hint of meadow flowers. The booze is masterfully hidden within the brew. A moderate, palate-scrubbing, earthy bitterness keeps the sweet in check. Drying finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-full body. Medium carbonation. Chewy mouthfeel. Drinkability: Yes, sometimes twenty-two ounces of barleywine is something you need to knock out on your lunch hour - even at $20 a bottle.

Name: Cloud 9
Date: December 07, 2006
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub
Appearance: opaque dark orange, frothy beige head, solid lace
Aroma: sweet fruity aroma with an old earthy hop presence
Flavor: lots of bitter hop flavor backed up by some great fruity character, just enough sweetness to keep it all in balance, as time passes the bitter starts to yield to the fruit

Name: Cloud 9
Date: January 18, 2007
Mode: draft
Source: brewpub
the fruity character is rich from the start, just enough bitterness for balance, picking up some nice bitter orange,

Name: Cloud 9
Date: June 26, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: brewpub
very creamy body, picking up some alcohol in the aroma, the fruity malt just keeps getting better and better,

Name: Cloud 9
Date: July 12, 2007
Mode: cask
Source: brewpub
Appearance: hazy dark rusty red, big frothy beige head
Aroma: rich sweet fruity aroma
Flavor: rich malt flavor, lots of fruity sweetness, big wave of earthy hop flavor comes in halfway to balance and lingers with a long bitter finish, warming without being alcoholic

Name: Cloud 9
Date: October 23, 2008
Mode: cask
Source: brewpub
Score: 3.8 to 4.1
Aroma: rich sweet fruity aroma
Body: body is getting very creamy
Flavor: dark caramel sweetness is growing in the flavor along with the ever growing fruityness
Overall: continues to get better and better

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 4.1/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: ***+/4

22oz bottle, shared with titijo. Rich amber color. Sweet cane sugar aroma. Lots of caramel. Flavor is very very sweet. Lots of sugars, caramel malt, molasses flavors.. High alcohol. Textbook BW!

22oz bottle at $20, didn’t know how much it cost until the end of the meal. Ouch! Hazy light brown color. Minimal head with off white color. Sweet malty aroma, reminds me of Old Stock. Creamy mouthfeel. Taste of caramel and toffee. Would like to taste this again after some age to it.

22 oz bottle shared with KieferUGA; had been waiting for it to be entered into the system. Maybe it already was, just missing the actual name. Both enjoyed it a lot. Poured a red/ruby color. Minimal amount of head. Aroma of honey, candy sugar with some sweet dark fruit. Nice palate, a little chewy; coats the mouth well. Alcohol was well hidden. Flavor was sweet and similar to the aroma. Enjoyed this one; only negative was the price tag that came with it.