Alaskan Barley Wine Ale (Big Nugget)

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

Free sample from the brewery, awesome! Rich aromas of pine and citrus, overt hop flavors that were not overbearing. Very rich but dangerously drinkable. ABC’s best beer.

Very good overall. Great aroma, smooth. Nice pleasing light bitterness. Not too complex and very drinkable. Sampled again. Simple, sweet and still really nice. Same rating.

Pour is dark brown with a decent head. Aroma is quite malty with some good hop balance. Flavor is sweet but has decent hops once again. Sweet but not overdone. This is a well made beer, no question.

Bottle. Heavy malt aromas of cookie and caramel, moderate hop notes of flowers and orange, light note of leather for the yeast, and hints of plum, dried fig, candied fruit, toffee, brown sugar and alcohol. The head is frothy, off-white, with excellent criss-cross lacing, is mostly lasting, and the body has good legs. Flavor starts moderately to heavily sweet and lightly acidic, then the long finish is moderately sweet and lightly acidic and bitter. Palate is medium to full, syrupy, with a soft carbonation and finishes lightly astringent and heavily alcoholic. An awesome and complex smelling Barley Wine. The alcohol content showed itself throughout.

Pours deep brown with suggestion of amber, tan head that is thick & luscious. Retains well. Aromatics are pleasant with fresh bread dough, clean malt, walnuts, vanilla icing, & melted caramel. Fig newton cookies also. Palate starts off with gentle, sweet malt, seeping through a creamy body/mouthfeel. Raisins and dark fruits are present, followed by lighter citrus tartness as it leads to the warm alcohol finish. Cherry cough drops come to mind, in a very good way. Alcohol is modest for this example of the style. One of the best barleywines I have sampled. Enjoyed summer 2008 from a bomber purchased in Wasilla, AK.

2008 (consumed April 2009) Quickly disappearing head. Ring of whiteness topping a ruby-amber body. Aroma is slightly oxidized, sherry, red fruits, amber maltiness, and some floral, piney hops. This smells wonderful. Taste is sickeningly sweet sherry, to start. Creamy, some cocoa, more sweetness, caramel, and alcohol cardboard.... Finishes sweet, cloying, and resinous. Yum, but tone back on the residual sugars!

22oz bottle. Pours mahogany with a small tan ring ring of lacing. Aroma is of hops, caramel, cough syrup, sugar, and malt. Taste has a big hop bite. It’s always nice to have a barley wine with a nice, big oily hop presence. Has a delicious caramel malt backbone with lots of sugar, grass, chocolate, and cough syrup. Could do without the medicinal taste. Mouthfeel is medium and very sticky. Goes down easy to the carbonation. Finish is insanely hot, almost peppery. I don’t normally expect so much hop character, cough syrup, and grass from a barley wine, but it was different and that’s what made it so damned good.

2008 edition in a bomber from Whole Foods Seattle South Lake Union. Pours rich, dark ruby, bordering on dark brown or black, moderate beige head with some retention and good lacing. Aromas of brown and caramelized sugar, citrus rind, figs, plums, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves. Flavour develops dark fruit, sweet spice, piney hops, some tree fruit right at the beginning and a long, warm, boozy finish dried out with bittering hops. Fairly creamy mouthfeel with balanced carbo. Excellent.