Aldergrove Auld Persnickety Barleywine Ale

Brewed by Steffans Aldergrove Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Marysville, Washington USA

Courtesy of after4ever via trade. Pours clear copper with tan head. We served it up pretty warm due to this cursed Florida heat creating a perfumy aroma of prunes, raisins, cherry hard candy, some caramel sweetness followed by a bit of alcohol heat. The taste is rich and plain old yummy with prunes, raisins, figs, dates and a hint of pepper. Those notes mix seamlessly with caramel and malt sweetness. The finish approaches with an warming alcohol and mild notes of fusels. Some of the alcohol presence is due to the above average serving temperature and didn’t at all distract from the experience.

(12oz bottle, thanks kmweaver?) Medium off-white head atop clear copper body. Aroma is moderately sweet, honey, caramel, peppery alcohol, light raisin. Taste is very sweet, plum, caramel, berry, some alcohol. The earthy/grapefruit in the finish is, as the description says, a feeble attempt to provide balance. Sticky medium-full body. Very hard to drink more than a sip or two at a time.

Date: June 21, 2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party
Appearance: clear dark caramel, wispy beige head
Aroma: sweet caramel malt aroma, touch of candy sweetness, lots of earthy hops, hot peppery alcohol
Flavor: huge sweet caramel malt flavor, nice fruity character, candy caramel sweetness, earthyness adds some balance
Overall: this one will age nicely
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

Bottle courtesy Ibrew2or3. Pours a clear copper with a one finger off-white head that leaves good lacing. Aroma of sweet fruit, sweet malt, caramel, and alcohol. Taste is the same as aroma. Medium full mouthfeel with a moderate amount of bitterness and warm but smooth alcohol. Very good.

Appearance: Pours a clear, orange-red body with a creamy, frothy, eggshell-colored head that just lasts and lasts. Smell: First and foremost, it’s a fruity aroma smelling of cherries, apricots, and sugar-coated peach pits. Plenty of caramel and honey in there as well. Taste: High degree of candied sweetness with tastes of caramel and honey. Blend of flavorful fruit juices. Medium hop bitterness fights a thankless battle to push back those damned, uppity sugars. Slight woody hint. Semi-dry finish with a lingering fruitiness. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied bolstered by some stickiness to the mouthfeel. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: It’s rather unabashed about its high amount of residual sweetness, it’s a bit coarse, alcholwise, and it’s just not as well-rounded as some better examples of the style. That said, there’s no reason this won’t get its act together with some solid time away in the cellar.

Bottle thanks to 5000: Pours a transparent deep orange copper with a spotty-lacing white head. Aroma of sweet floral hops and caramel malt with some light fruity brown sugar character. Body starts with a rich, sticky caramel maltiness and an assertive resiny hop bitterness with some peppery warming alcohol in the finish and strawberry fruity complexity. A pretty good barleywine, but could hide its alcohol better.

12 oz bottle, via 5000. Pours a mostly clear amber body with a small tight bubbled beige head that faded to a wispy film. The nose is big heavy toffee and caramel malt with some fruits, alcohol, residual sugars, and a touch of acetone. The flavor is huge caramel up front with lots of residual sugars, it’s almost like liquid brown sugar. I don’t get the monsterous amount of hops that they are claiming is in here, but there is a little bitterness cutting in on the finish. Some candied dark fruits and dark honey linger on in the finish for ever. The alcohol really doesn’t show thru much for being 10% plus, maybe because it’s so super sweet. Actually, this almost tasted like a DFH beer with this combo of intense sweetness and high ABV. Mouuthfeel is thick and just shy of syrupy with moderate fine fizzy carbonation. Overall, not the most desirable of formulations for a Barley Wine for me. No big flaws, it’s just not really my thing.

Bottle. Bopper beer with a low off-white head. Plum, sweet malt aroma with light vanilla. Sweet malt flavor with toffee, plum, and brown sugar. Medium bodied. Plum and brown sugar linger. Alcohol noticeable. Nice, but needs time. A bit sweet with good fruitiness.