Alaskan Barley Wine Ale (Big Nugget)

Brewed by Alaskan Brewing Co
Style: Barley Wine
Juneau, Alaska USA

22oz. Bottle (2008 Vintage): Thanks to enopacm. Aroma of hops, grapefruit, pine, light toasted malts, and slight rye. Poured copper/deep amber in color with a small beige head that disappeared quickly. Clear. Not sparkling. Full of tiny particles throughout. Flavor is light to medium sweet and medium to heavily bitter. Tastes of caramel malts, hops, pine, spruce, citrus, grapefruit, slight wood, hop oil, toffee, and a slight hint of alcohol. Medium body. Creamy, slick, then slightly dry texture. Soft to average carbonation. Hoppy, pine, citrus finish is slightly dry.

Tap @ Belmont Station... Poured deep amberish/ruby with an off-white head. Aroma of alcohol, hops and buttery malt. Heavy palate with a thick carbonation. Flavors of raisins and bitter dark notes and hops. Caramel malt that created a subtle balance. Pretty dry in the finish with a presence of fruit and alcohol.

I decided for my 50th rating I wanted to do something special. I always enjoy beers from this brewery and this one proved to be no exception. 22 oz. Bomber...Pours a really nice chestnut brown with a finger width tan head, settling into a thin layer which left nice lacing. The aroma is complex with alcohol, leather, dark fruit and grapefruit. The taste did not disappoint...cherry, sweet molasses, caramel, brown sugar and alcohol followed up with hop bitterness on the finish. At 10.4 ABV...this is one you can share. A very good brew of this style.

22oz bottle from BevMo Mission Valley. Pours a mostly clear deep copper color with a small beige head. Very sweet nose with candied dark fruits, caramel, sweet malts, and a light hop presence. Very sweet flavor, not quite as good as expected.

22oz bomber. Pours a dark amber with red hues. small head dissipates into a ring of froth, not much lacing. Aromas of sweet malt, dark fruit, slight hops, and booze. Flavors are similar, a little to sweet for my liking. There was also something rather funky in the taste that I can’t pinpoint, but it definitely was not a good funky.

2008 Edition. 22 oz. bottle. Pours a slightly hazed deep ruby with a moderate off-white head that lasted through two-thirds of the glass and left a layer of foam with each sip. This is a very aromatic beer with candied orange being the primary trait with grapefruit, malt and brown sugar also present. There is caramel and malt present in the flavor, although there is less fruit than the aroma suggests. There is a quick wash of grapefruit bitterness at the finish, but there is also a nice silky mouthfeel, especially as the beer warms a bit. Just a hint of alcohol warmth near the end as well. I’m not usually a big fan of hoppy barley wines, but I did enjoy this one.

2008 vintage, on tap at City Beer Store in SF. Deep reddish amber color with creamy off-white head. Sweet caramel malt, brown sugar, citrus, and Nugget hop bitterness. I’m a sucker for Nugget hops. Aroma more or less matches the flavor. Some alcohol warmth going down. Nice full mouthfeel.

Mahogany plum. Compact collar of bubbles surrounds a broken center of ivory foam. Simplistic Crystal-laden (instant tea) aroma with prominent notes of medicinal phenols, plastic, pine resin and grapefruit peel. Sweet hints of brown sugar, mashed dates, and hop leaves as well. Solvent-like alcohol further taints the nose. Soft pricks of carbonation. Syrupy body. Bottle conditioned. Immediate inundation of Crystal malt collides with resinous hops and a gullet-warming sting of alcohol. Malt and hops quickly lose definition as the body takes on some serious flabbiness toward the center due to the rampant tealike Crystal and low attenuation. Flabbiness is akin to canned mandarin oranges stewed in medicine. Shockingly unrefined, overall, particularly in the malt department which is extremely husky, and far more sugary and soppy-sweet than poignant in its subtlety. Severely muddled and unclean finish displays a dull leafy-hop bitterness amid lingering fuzzy, husky malts and plastic. An absolute mess of a beer with numerous glaring flaws (dirty malt character, solvent-like alcohol, terrible structure, poor malt and hop definition, cloyingly sweet, etc., etc.). Undrinkable, much to my chagrin.