Appalachian Broad Street Barley Wine

Brewed by Appalachian Brewing Company (PA)
Style: Barley Wine
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania USA

5oz draft pour at Gettysburg brewery. Color is a dark garnet and burgundy, almost looks like there’s some swirling black colors inside as well. Very thin film of a head. The nose has almost a meaty bacon and smoked meat scent at first, and I think only at first, because after some more investigative sniffing, the meaty character disappears and is replaced by charred black cherries, dried, charred oak, smoked plums and other assorted dark fruits with some amount of burn or char... overall, it smells amazing. Highly hopped, highly bitter, but the bitterness plays well with the sweetness that resembles natural fruit sugar. Flavor is full of charred wood and smoke, dry, parched, bitter, aggressive, with chocolate covered cherries. Alcohol certainly there but not overpowering or strong. Reminds me a little bit of Old Crusty from the assertiveness, but I think this one is much better, much more balanced, though compared to BW in general balanced is probably not the best word. Overall, this barley wine is good, it would be great on cask I think... it’s nontraditional, it’s full of smoke and char and burnt things, and it’s damn delicious.

On-tap at Hop Devil Grill. Very dark brown with lace. Good roast aroma. Good hops and citrus lemon worked. Very nice and smooth.Full mouthfeel with bagel dough, tabacco, toffee, molasses, roast malt sweet but not cloying. Complex and unique, a beer geek out-of-mug experience. Wow at 13% alcohol.

Tap @ Hop Devil Grill poured into a small goblet. Black bodied with a medium head, which turns into a strong lacing. Aroma is at first pine hoppy and the follows with other sweet hop aromas. Taste is citrus hoppy but not enough behind that. A bit of alcoholic raison there as well. Alcohol burn left at the end. This is one of these too strong and too mediocre barleywine.

Tap at Hop Devil Grill: This stuff pours near black with a khaki ring for head. The aroma is striking. Thick, chocolatey, full of berry-like fruityness (raspberries). As it warms the hops become more evident, with a touch of maple. This is a rich Barley Wine. Great mouthfeel, thick and chewy. The flavor is huge, both chocolatey and fruity. There’s definitly berry notes of raspberries and elderberries. Dark rich roasty malts give off loads of stuff like tobacco, dark chocolate, roasted toffee, with a late coffee hint. Stuff has a boozey quality, but the alcohol is damn smooth. Toasty maple suggestions, with an evident hop dryness in the roasty finish that also has residual warming roastyness from the malt. A complex and outstanding Barley Wine.

Draft at the Gettysburg location, July 2006. A pitch balack beer with a brown head. The aroma is sweet alcoholic combined with notes of roasted malt and prunes. The flavor is malty with notes of bourbon, fruit, and chocolate, leading to a dry chocolaty end. Not your standard barley wine, but nice.

On tap at Gettysburg location, July 2006. Quite an unusual barley wine. Very dark, almost black - could have been a stout or a porter. Big fruit aroma - prunes and plums to the fore. Fruity and rich on the palate with fat, chewy malts and a surprising dash of chocolate and liquorice. Less hop character than most US barley wines I’ve tried. Unusual and enjoyable.

Poured a dark, reddish brown color with a small, off white head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of dried fruits, caramel malts, vanilla, citrus fruits, and light alcohol. Taste of more citrus fruits, light roasted malts, dried fruits, caramel malts, toffee, and faint alcohol in the finish.

Unfortunatly this ber was in a growler that had a chipped lip, the brewer apparently didn’t check the condition of the growler before releasing it. Ergo, this rating will probably be a bit lower than it should because of the selling conditions of the beer. A very dark ruby body with no head or appreciable carbonation (most likely due to the growler). Aroma is nutty, sweet along with some light oakiness. Flavor is a bit flat, some light coffee tones, some woodiness. Ending is a bit thin, a bitter sweetness. I imagine this beer would have been quite a bit better had they not sold a defective growler.