Appalachian Broad Street Barley Wine

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

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.

12oz bottle. Poured a medium to deeper mahogany color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of caramel, nutty, citrus, and some dark fruits. Tastes of caramel, chocolate, dark fruits, brown sugar, molasses, citrus, chocolate, and some roastiness. Light alcohol in the finish, but not giving way the almost 13%. Well done ABC.

Brownish burgundy pour. Big frothy head feels rather impressive. Very toasty nose, almost roasty dark malts, anisey and woody all throughout. Spicey stouty nose. Superb hazelnut and coffee flavors, very dry surprisingly enough, I’d be curious to know which hops they use, they are not very bitter, but procure a reassuring presence. Soft palate, light carbonation, smooth nightcap.

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 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.

Draft at the brewpub. Pours burgundy/coppery in color, with aroma of malt, fruit, peat, port, spice. Tastes firm on the palate, with hints of malt, prunes, peat, port, cognac, and even cheese. Finishes bold, complex, and well balanced. A standout barleywine.

Tasted at Belgium Comes to Cooperstown, July 16, 2005. Deep red brown ale with a nice creamy moka head. Sweet caramel and raisin in aroma with good floral hops. Sweet caramel with too much intense hops, not much fruity raisin or dates, liek a BW style. Still, a pleasant offering, more like an old ale.

2008 bottle. Poured rich, clear reddish-brown with a short cap of tan head. The aroma picked up toasted biscuits, redder fruits, and brown sugar surrounded by peppery alcohol, vanilla, and oak (I don’t think this was barrel-aged, but it certainly had some similar character).. warm and quite inviting. The flavor had sweeter caramel, a pinch of molasses, and more fruits at the core.. some smoke and warm-to-hot alcohol around.. long impression at the end, with more warmth coming back through the nose. Heavier-bodied on the palate, lacking carbonation at certain points where it needed some (it wasn’t close to flat, but the flow was a little off).. sticky and warm on the finish. This was very solid.