 beastiefan2k (1600), Lawrence (formely NYC), Kansas, USA
| 3.8 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 7/10 | 4/5 | 15/20 |
Jul 13, 2006 Updated: Jun 3, 20084th beer of my BW fest. Split into 3 brandy glasses. Thank you ClarkVV for the bottle. Cellared for 5 months, fridged for about 45 minutes. Poured with a thin head that quickly became lacing. Color is orange-copper-reddish brown. Some floaties, cannot see through the beer. Strong hop aroma but with that BW sweetness underneath. Not so malty (surprisingly). Hoppiness is spiky tropical fruit. Taste however lacks anything too interesting. Again a muted tropical fruit hop flavor with some bitterness. As it warms I get a lot of sugary candy flavors. I do not see how this would age well. Its nice but nothing spectacular.
Re-rate: Blind @ Cornboy’s 2nd Annual BW tasting. May have been about 3 years old at the time. Aroma is strong burst of alcohol and raisin. Taste has a bit of a roast to it, nice stuff. 7/4/7/4/16.
nhorween (640), Chicago, Illinois, USA
| 4.5 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 9/10 | 5/5 | 10/10 | 3/5 | 18/20 |
Jul 7, 2006 Updated: Feb 21, 2008Bottle. Dark, dark amber color with a thin, off-white head. Nose is malty with lots of candy sugar, dark fruit, golden raisins, alcohol, caramel, toffee, cinnamon, and orange zest. Flavor is alcoholic and amazingly smooth and mild. Bitter up front with a great caramel finish. Mouthfeel is thick and tingly, and maybe a tad undercarbonated. A great beer (my favorite barleywine) and super well balanced, despite all that’s going on. Rerate - I’ll stick with most of my initial rating but add that there’s a definite cola component to the flavor... and it’s much more bitter in the finish than I remember. Great beer.
moejuck (1165), Ohio, USA
| 3.6 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 3/5 | 7/10 | 4/5 | 15/20 |
Jul 6, 2006 Updated: Jan 29, 2008What a great Barleywine! So many of the others that I have had have been hit and miss, but this one is right on. The pour was a dark brown color and it was cloudy. I could see sediment floating in the glass as I poured. The head was average sized. The flavor was very nice, it was sweet with plenty of hop and alcohol mixed in. It would have been nice not to get as much alcohol in the nose. The flavor was not as intense as I had expected, but was still very good. The flavors were sweet, much like the aroma, but also had a strong hop and alcohol finish. When comparing this only to other barley wines I’ve had, this is without a doubt the best."
Re-rate 1-29-08
Not as impressed as my initial rating above. The aroma here is one of the big letdowns--very musty and stale cardboard scents dominate. The flavor is down the middle for me at this point--nothing spectacular and nothing wrong really either. The balance in this is nice, but the overall flavor is thin and uninteresting. Rating changed to reflect the new score.
sersdf (1000), chicago, Illinois, USA
| 3.7 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 6/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 15/20 |
Jun 27, 2006 red/brown toffee colored, slightly hazy; didn’t get much yeast. no real head, but interesting lacing. not very carbonated at all. aroma reminds me of the samiclaus a bit, which i guess isn’t a good thing. some dried fruit alcohol in there. very sweet and malty, a bit creamy as well. definitely a lot of alcohol in the finish. malty, creamy. super balanced of course. my friend found the profile to be bried, which he liked, but i found it to be longer and worse for that reason. not my favorite barleywine.
tronraner (1916), Seymour, Tennessee, USA
| 3.9 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 3/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 16/20 |
Jun 26, 2006 Bottle. Pours bright deep reddish copper with very very little white head. The aroma is noble hops, brown sugar, cedar, alcohol, fig, and caramel. The flavor has lots of dark fruits, some raisin bread. It’s sweet and tame at first, but more aggressive woody tones come out toward the end. A slight vinous quality is apparent from time to time. Alcoholic aftertaste. After half of a glass, I start to notice a lemon-creme type flavor. Tasty.
NachlamSie (1637), Tennessee, USA
| 3.8 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 4/5 | 7/10 | 4/5 | 16/20 |
Jun 25, 2006 bottle. Pours a rusty brown-red hue with no head, but some large bubbles at the top, though an overall tame level of carbonation. The aroma is thick of dense caramel, oak, mild alcohol, raisins, toasted sugar, figs. It’s rather bready in the mouth with notes of burning leaves, burboun, nutmeg, black tea, and that dense caramel again. It’s semi-heavy on the palate with a smooth, viscous mouthfeel. It burns a little as it warms. There’s nothing out of character for a barley wine. Rather, it’s a very tasteful, bold take on the style.
ryan (1775), Beltsville, Maryland, USA
| 3.9 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 15/20 |
Jun 23, 2006 Silver foil bottle, purchased 10 months ago. Pours a clear deep amber with a tiny, off-white head that quickly disappears. The aroma is heavy, sweet caramels and toffee with light citrus and plenty of resinous pine. Just a touch of Alcohol shows in the nose along with hints of dark fruits. The flavor is straight forward, what you would expect from the nose it delivers. Plenty of sticky sweet caramel and bitter pine, some golden raisins, just a bit too much alcohol present. The mouthfeel is very soft with light carbonation and a warm, dry and bitter finish. Very solid offering from Alesmith. Now, if only this didn’t come in a 750....
Dickinsonbeer (3449), Hoboken, New Jersey, USA
| 4.4 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 9/10 | 4/5 | 9/10 | 5/5 | 17/20 |
Jun 21, 2006 Opened up a bottle tonight thinking I had put a speedway in the fridge a few weeks ago, but as I poured I realized my mistake. What a great mistake though- I had put in the Old numbskull that TAR had sent me, and didnt bother reading the label before I opened. haha Oh well. I have had this many times before, and am surprised I had not rated it, as it is such a classic and wonderful example of an american barleywine. Pours a light to medium amber color, mostly clear but towards the later pours you get some chunky yeastiness. Thin lasting head and some lace. Aroma is thick with sweet caramel malts, sticky rum and fruity esters like raisin and apricots. Smooth flavor of sticky sweet malts, nutty, toffee, caramel, and rum with very light alcohol presence. Very smooth, and keeps the alcohol under control. Goes down easy, as it was no problem at all to kill the entire bottle in about 90 minutes. Great stuff! Thanks Jeff!
|
Rate This
Statistics
Find This Beer (Want/Have)