Appalachian Oak Aged Broad Street Barley Wine

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

Sampled at RBSG 2006- Grand Tasting. I thought that this was just an amazing beer. The aroma is perfect. Fruit, oak, and liquor. Flavor has strong bourbon pronouncements. Super rich. Super sweet. Super sugary. Super corn whiskey. These faux Pennsyltucky hillbillies know how to make a barleywine for true Tennessee hillbillies.

Tap...pours a deep brown with amber notes and an average creamy tan head that laced. Aroma of toffee, dark fruits, vanilla, some light woodiness, molasses, caramel and coffee ice cream. Flavor of coffee ice cream, toffee, vanilla, dried fruits, light oak, toasted grains and a touch of bourbon. I love Ben and Jerrys coffee Heath bar crunch ice cream and this beer reminded me of that.

ABC fest 06. Pours a deep woody ruby red, moslty clear with a thin off white head. Low carbonation. Aroma is very woody, with some earth, oak, light vanilla, sweet caramel and some fruity esters- but overall dominated by wood. The strong woodiness luckily is backed up by the crapload of sweet sticky malt- more dried fruits, caramle, toffee, and more vanilla. Smooth adn full body with just a bit of tannin induced astringency. This was my favorite of the fest, and I went back for about 4 more samples througout the night.

Snifter at Appalachian in Harrisburg. Dark garnet brown colored body with a thick, foamy dark tan mocha colored head that sticks to the sides of the glass like glue. Big legs and overall just a really inviting appearance. Big oak-filled nose, sticky plum and caramel and maple and some dry, toasty hay. Really nice. It’s sticky and rich on the tongue, and thankfully the oak isn’t incredibly dry, it has some light char, some nuttiness, some plum/black cherry/date qualities. Very good, not boozy for being close to 13%, just huge and overpowering, going straight to your head. Good stuff.

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.

Draft at Harrisburg location. Poured deep brown in color with a sparse beige head. Aroma of dark fruits, nuts, and toffee. Tastes of dark fruits, nuts, toffee, caramel, light vanilla and light oak. Some mild alcohol warming in the finish but in general this is a very drinkable barley wine.

Draft at brewpub on Cameron. I take back the common about "poor beer across the boards" because the barleywine is a fairly legitimate offering. This was the first beer I tried at ABC and I was fairly impressed although my samplings went downhill from there. A very nice Barlywine with a strong alcohol presence....very sweet, very hoppy, very delicious.

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