Alpine Beer Company Great

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

From a 375mL Bottle. Orange-ish amber colored pour, slightly hazy, with some gentle strokes of fiery sunset and a thin wisp of fleeting bubbly white head. A high level of distilled alcohols jump up and attack the nostrils instantly from behind the sweet, bubblegummy malt base that’s decorated with some zesty orange hops. Almost a whiff of green apple tanginess, but it could be my imagination. Medium bodied, crisply carbonated mouthfeel that imparts a pleasant tickling sensation across the palate to the back of the tongue. A bourbon drenched fruitcake spiciness creates the first flavor impression before a reaffirmation of the green apple offness found in the aroma makes its first appearance on the palate. The alcohol burn is so stinging that this component seems pleasant by comparison, however. A bit of harsh tannic oak comes through on the back end of the palate, but could stand to lose some of the astringency. Interesting flavors, but kind of a mess for my palate to decipher overall.

Had at CT V. Aroma of bourbon, oak, vanilla, sweetness and a lot of malt. Pretty sweet overall but still pretty tastey. A lot of alcohol. This didnt seem all that complex.

Bottle purchased at the brewery 10/06 consumed Feb. 9th, 2007. After pulling the foil off I noticed this puppy was filled to within a quarter inch of the cap so 0.375L+(that’s good for me, eh). Pours slightly hazy brown with orange highlights. The tan head dissipated in under a minute. The aroma is pretty strong with caramel, alcohol, dark fruitiness, molasses, wood planks and just a hint of whiskey. Wow, I was expecting a more aggressive taste from this big beer. It starts off with a nice Barleywine date and cherry dark fruitiness mix with sweet caramel and toffee. About midway the whiskey, vanilla and oak notes surface. There’s also light hints of alcohol and grape tartness. From midway on this beer gives a nice warming feeling that seems comforting. Great sipping beer.

Re-rate on 10/29/07. Pours a clear copper to brown color with lasting thin tan head. The aroma is up in your face big and bold with the aroma of a oak paneled shed followed by sweet creamy caramel candy and some chocolate malts. It also has a sizable load of fruity esters with prunes, dates and a bucket of raisins. The alcohol is not all that well hidden for a 10% beer. But for this beers big ABV it isn’t too bad. The flavor is just as bold as the aroma with a whack in the face by a freshly milled oak plank followed quickly by red wine grapes, red wine tannins mixed with rich caramel candy. The alcohol is there too. Nice. Another decade of age could see this good beer turn truly great.

Bottle shared at the Columbus Tasting V: Dark brown with an off white head. Aroma was oaky, alcohol, whiskey, and some earthy hops. Flavor, caramel, alcohol, oak. Solid brew.

Poured out an amber color with a nice head and good lacing. Aroma was vanilla, oak, whiskey and hops. Flavors were pretty much the same as the aroma but it was really strong with the whiskey flavor, which drowned out most of everything else. I think that with some age things would mellow out a bit. Looking forward to try this again in a year or two.

This is a pretty intense barley wine. Not your average fare. Thicker, maltier and much more noticable alcohol. A nice apertif. I’d be afraid to get wrecked off this stuff as barley wines tend to get me violently hammered. That said, see you at Toronado next year!

Great looking rich ruby mahogany pour with small quickly dissipating head. The nose is split evenly between rich earthiness (almost moldiness) and an intense alcohol kick. The flavor is very sweet, with notes of dried fruit, mold, oak, smoke and a very strong alcohol burn in the back end. Very weird brew!

Odd barley wine. Looks fine, a rudy brown, clear body with the slenderest of bubbly heads. The aroma starts with the requisites, a light Bourbon scent, toffee, some fruits, alcohol... and then a strange, earthy, fungoid smell creeps in. Getting past that I find myself drinkling a fairly smooth, hot, malty barley wine, sticky sweet, with raw wood, alcohol, old fruit, and a hint of smoke. The finish is hot, sticky, and earthy. And when I set the glass down for a minute, my mouth feels unclean. The more I thought about it, the lower my rating got. Some day I’ll have to try this again to see what I missed.

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