Appalachian Oak Aged Broad Street Barley Wine

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

Poured from a 12 oz handbottle. Somewhat transparent dark brown color. Bourbon and oak aroma with suggestions of plum, bonfire smoke, reduced maple syrup. Plenty of firm and rich chocolate presence. Flavor is a massive departure into acrid coffee grounds, bad cocoa, and dirty toffee cake, though retaining a charred oak presence that tempers things slightly. Port-like toward the end, but mainly in sweetness and alcoholic strength; simplistic. Palate is thin whiskey. Uninspiring, but not bad. Thanks, Paul!

Name: Broad Street Barley Wine Oak Aged
Date: July 15, 2006
Mode: Growler
Source: Tasting, RBSG, 2006
Appearance: muddy brown, thin tan head, touch of lace
Aroma: oaky malt aroma
Flavor: rich malt flavor, lot of oak, touch of roasted, light bitterness, only a touch of the sweet bourbon

Name: Broad Street Barley Wine Oak Aged
Date: July 25, 2007
Mode: draft
Source: brewpub
Score: 3.3 to 3.9
Appearance: black, fine tan head, lots of drippy lace
Aroma: sweet dark caramel and chocolate aroma with a vanilla sweetness
Flavor: rich dark chocolate and bourbon flavor, nice earth oak bitterness, vanilla sweetness brings out the chocolate and caramel
Overall: a cross between a barleywine and imperial stout

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.9/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

20061111 Sampled at Cornboy’s 1st Annual Barley Wine Extravaganza
#21 The last of the formal tasting, and what an amazing tasting this was. Tremendous lineup of barley wines and great company. After this one, the night gets fuzzy.
Smells mild, light roast, light toast. Bits of coffee and chocolate flavor. This seemed like more of a mild Baltic porter than a barley wine as it had a bit of roasty flavor to go along with the usual rummy/raisin whatchamacallit. Tasty nonetheless.

Sampled on 7/15/06 at the RBSG ’06 Grand Tasting out of a growler: Pours a very dark mahogany with a thin wispy tan head. Sweet vanilla caramel butterscotch complex aroma has some alcoholic notes. Body starts lightly toasty and caramely sweet with an oily palate thinning some toward a smooth, oaky and somewhat drier finish with a hint of fruity tartness. Needs a touch more balance, otherwise a decent barleywine.

Draft served in a 6 oz sample glass. What? No snifter? Pours a deep brown, almost like a robust porter with a tan head. Rich aroma with hints of dark fruit, vanilla, and dark roast malts. Evenly balanced malt flavor of light caramel and molasses, with a pleasant sweetness. This is accented by some vanilla, plums, and a hint of smoke. Medium bitter finish with some mild but pleasant alcohol. Very nice beer. Best one of the night.

A black beer with a brown head. The flavor is sweet alcoholic, combined with notes of prunes and roasted malt. The flavor is dry malty with notes of fruit, chocolate, and coffee, leading to a dry chocolate end. Reminds me more of a stout than a Barley Wine.

From growler, RBSG Grand Tasting, July 2006. I have to say this seemed pretty similar to the regular version I tried a few days later. My notes are certainly very similar. Very dark, plummy fruit, prunes, rich malt and an unexpected dash of chocolate. Maybe a touch of vanilla from the barrel but I’m not sure it really adds much. Scores the same as the regular.

’06 RBSG Dark beer with a quickly disappearing beige head. The nose has lots of dark dried fruit and barrel wood. Flavors of oak, vanilla, brown sugar, some anise, and alcohol. Nice blossoming alcohol and wood sensation when you exhale through the nose. I would have liked to have tried the regular version too.