Aldergrove Auld Persnickety Barleywine Ale

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

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

Muddy dark reddish brown with a weak head. Smells barleywineish...some rich malts, leaning towards caramel and earth with indistinct fruitiness buried underneath. Reaaaally chewy, a big dense malt assault. This fades into a hardcore alcohol finish. There’s something... a brown sugar and blackberry note. I need more of that, but I suspect it might take a few years in the cellar to draw that out from underneath the malt/alcohol bludgeoning.

(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.

12oz bottle acquired in trade with Larry Pitonka (thanks!). Poured a deeper and murky reddish, brownish, amberish color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of caramel, toffee, bready, citrus, and dark fruits. Tastes of caramel, citrus, nuts, tobacoo, and some dark fruits. Light alcohol in the finish but no where near 10.5%. Thinner body. Drinkable but a tad overall thin for a Barleywine.

Bottle… Backus’s Backdoor Bash ‘08 … Hazy copper ale with a small, creamy, white head. Sweet aroma with loads of toffee and caramel malt followed by a whisper of black tea. Full-bodied, sticky and chewy with modest carbonation. Boozy, sweet caramel and fruit flavor… dried figs and fuzzy fruits. Sweet, caramely finish. Muchos kudos to Ibrew2or3 for bringing this one to the Throwdown!

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.

Dark purple and brown colored body. Instant nose of crystal malt with a bit of sweet plum and tobacco as well and some mildly fruity hops. Flavor is pretty similar, more chewy, resinous crystal malt, a bit of bran, and some more plum, black cherry, tobacco and caramel with a mild to medium bitterness and a light fruitiness to the subdued hops. Not bad.

For rate # 1900, this beer has been on my want list as the most wanted for nearly six months. Received a12-oz bottle from André (5000) via Bottleworks in Seattle, Washington. Pours a hazy orange amber brew with a thick and lumpy beige head that has some good retention and lacing. Aroma of toffee and caramel malt, with some dried raisins, a touch of apricots, and prunes. Taste is medium bodied, slightly thick, light carbonation with flavors of orange jelly filled chocolate, apricots, some light raisins with a touch of caramel bread malt. Finish is quite smooth, semi-sweet with a mild bitterness on top of a bread and raisin aftertaste. I am curious what a little aging can do to this. We’ll check in a few years. Most excellent!