Alaskan Barley Wine Ale (Big Nugget)

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

2007. Pours a very thin, transparent hue of chocolate brown, glinted red, topped with a resilient, tightly packed head of slightly brown cream. Reserved aroma offers a dual structure of orange marmalade and baked butter cookies; malt forward, while hops are vibrant and punchy in pine-laden accentuating quality. Sugary, dried pit fruits, golden tropical fruits, brown sugar, caramel; many layers of sweetness land quite thickly but with a uniform, bonded complexity. Definitely more a polished malty example that’s very youthful, but it really intimates a hop-forward example with a couple years on it. Pristine, clean malt flavor with a dry, sprucy hop oiliness beneath; burnt toffee, tannic fruit, baked rum cookies, dried fruit. Obviously young now. Lots of gin and zest character powering through in the mid palate with a sterilizing two punch of alcohol and hops. Raisin, savory brown sugar, honey, and plum lend a lot of depth to the sweetness and it’s never uninteresting, but it consistently seems stripped down for yeast presence or for any kind of rustic, spontaneous authenticity. Full body is glassy, and sugary; barely carbonated, showing molten spirit texture throughout. Filtration seems to dumb it down significantly, and it’s hard to project what benefit aging would produce. Finishes sticky and sweet with pine resin and dry fruity heat, and some raw alcohol flavor. While a bit synethic, the quality is there. Thanks Andre!

22oz bottle, courtesy of 5000. Thanks, André! Pours a dark reddish-brown color; creamy khaki head with fine-bubbled lacing. Loads of oily dried fruits, caramel, and candy sugar in the aroma; viscous and generous; slightest hint of alcohol poking through. Full mouthfeel: following the aroma, there’s just tons of viscous dried fruits, boozy leather and fruit leather, toffee and caramel; lots of generous fruitiness and a complex maltiness; just a bit too sweet at this point; it would likely benefit and excel after a few years of age; warming and a touch over the top right now; but tasty. Lengthy finish, showing more dried red fruits, leather, and some breadiness in the finish.

2007. Courtesy of kmweaver. Clear dark amber with a small tan head, fades to a cover. Sweet and fruity nose with caramel, toffee, dark fruits, some golden fruits and alcohol. The flavor is moderately sweet, lightly bitter with toffee, berry, prunes, light pine and citrus. Full body is soft and sticky with light carbonation. Decent.

Bomber poured a clear dark reddish brown with a small lingering ring of amber foam. Aromas of carmel, molasses, toffee, dark fruit, light vanilla and a hint of spice. Palate was medium bodied and smooth with a warming finish. Flavors of carmel, toffee, dark fruit and light vanilla with a smooth warming lingering bitter finish.

Clear red, tight tan head. Heavy, sweet caramel, ethanol, and herbal/citrus hop aromas. Sweet toffee, multi vitamin, alcohol and spicy citrus hop flavor. Very large body. Big burly Barley Wine.

Thanks to riversideAK for getting me this one. A thick dark red pour with a small tan head. Heavy caramel malt and bubble gum aroma. Flavor has nice citrusy hops, caramel, toffee, and a bit of dark fruit. Finished pretty thick, slightly bitter and clean. Very nice!

Pretty mahogany. Vanilla with some cherry smell. Fruity, brown sugar, burning finish. Thanks Pepsican.

Bottle from 5000. Pours a dark ruby color with no head. Aroma of cherries,light caramel,and earth. The flavor was the same with a nice hop presence. Thick, rich, and chewy. This is some good stuff here.