Alpine Beer Company Great

Formerly brewed at Alpine Beer Company (CA)
Style: Barley Wine
Alpine, California USA

375mL bottle courtesy of the ever-generous hoppymeal poured into a snifter. An aggressive pour produces a short-lived fizzy head that dissipates almost immediately to remnants of a ring over a bright, cloudy caramel orange body. No lacing to speak of. Big smells of the barrel-aging with oak and vanilla up front. There is a bit of caramel and fruit sweetness in the background, prunes and raisins, and lots of booze as well. The taste has the sweet caramel malts and raisins up front before giving way to the oak and bourbon which leave a tingly finish on the tongue. The mouthfeel is slick with little carbonation and coats the mouth in rich dessert-like decadence. This is one for sipping all evening all, though the alcohol is fairly well-hidden given the ABV. A big, complex and damn tasty ber. Thanks again to Derek for this rarity.

500, capped and foiled. Thanks, Riverside! ’05.
Pours murky bright amber orange. Virtually headless and laceless. Enormously boozy vodka nose. Settles to toffee, butterscotch, caramel. Definite raisins there too. Creamy, somewhat sticky body on the high side of medium. Caramel, biscuit, vodka, toffee mid-palate. Long vodka finish. lots of twang left in this one, especially for three years in the bottle. Maybe the yeast wasn’t strong enough to defend itself?

Orange/amber, with an off white head. Aroma is amazing, sweet malt, bourbon, toffee, dark fruit, and vanilla. Flavor is bourbon, vanilla, oak, alcohol, and caramel . Nowhere near as sweet as the aroma leads you to believe. Thanks to sick_boy282 for this bottle.

Rich and sweet and was just the thing I was looking for. The flavor profile here is all sweet maltiness, loads of caramel and toffee, some creamy vanilla bean, toasted oak, and a really well masked alcohol not coming across as hot on the palate, but very warming in the afterpalate, and throughout the body. really well done and delicious.

375ml bottle purchased at South Bay. Thanks Joey! Pours a dark brown with light head. Smell is oak, vanilla, sweet malt, light whisky notes and dark fruit. No hops present. Taste is smooth sweet malt, light whisky notes, oak and a light oxidation. Little bit of caramel in the aftertaste and a off flavor of butter(?). for such a big barley wine there is not much burn. Pretty smooth.Flat mouthfeel. This is pretty tasty but I do not see this aging for years. Glad I only picked up a couple bottles.

Pours to a glowing mahogany body with a clean look and very thin bubbly white head. The aroma is strong oak, vanilla, sweet whiskey, barley, some things like Sam Adams triplebock going on in it. The flavor is sweet vanilla, strong oak, and whiskey. The palate is surprisingly not alcoholic. Sweet, rich, and full bodied. Caramel.

Thanks to Blake for bringing this over! Poured clear caramelly-copper with a light, looser cap of off-white head. The aroma picked up overtones of sour oak and light bourbon mixed with some vanilla and nuttiness.. more dry oak comes through with warmth.. this really muffled the ABV well! The flavor has a whole lot of dried toffee, caramel, and well-toasted oak on the core, rather hot alcohol hit on the back-end, but that was expected.. warm back-end with a bit of bourbon/brandy along with vanilla right at the back. Thicker-bodied on the palate with lots of toasty oak and vanilla accents.. well-balanced and warming at the end. This was a very good brew!

Mesa Gathering October 07.Caramel aroma . Flavor like burbon Whiskey. Has a 15 circled for a score. Thanks to hopheadinaz for this one as well.