Anheuser-Busch Barleywine

I had this at a barley wine festival. Not too shabby. Thick and sweet, fruity and malty. The bitterness was just enough to knock back the sweetness.

Date: 02/10/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewfest, Extreme Beer

clear dark amber, lasting fine beige head, sweet caramel malt aroma with a nice fruity character, creamy body, sweet fruity flavor, not too sweet to allow the rich fruit to emerge, touch of sweet vanilla, very nice and drinkable

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 4/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ***+/4

Draught sample at EBF on 2/10/07
Strong amount of fruitiness in the aroma also incorporates light caramel but there is a definite edginess/crustiness to the malts which seem rather hard and overly dry. Little to no hops, which was surprising. Light earthy and minimal citrus notes that are easily overcome by the malts. Clean, though, with no dms or anything like that. Rather reserved aroma dosent divulge a whole lot. Alcohol is well-masked.
The flavor didnt do a whole lot for me. Actually, it wasnt even the flavor so much as the body/texture that seemed to ruin it for me. Lightly crusty, very grainy malts are very weak, producing light toffee, light red fruits and some light breadiness. There just didnt seem to be enough malt, not nearly enough, and it seemed more like a somewhat strong amber ale. Not soft on the palate in the least, with the flavor tapering off heavily on the finish in to a somewhat watery texture with bready/crackery dry/blandness. Same exact problem I’ve encountered in their IPA, pale ale, wild hop lager, etc....there just isnt enough malt or texture for me.