Arcadia Cereal Killer Barleywine

Brewed by Arcadia Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Battle Creek, Michigan USA

Wow. You look up "elixir" in the dictionary just to see if this is in there, and you’ll find that your dictionaries today are outdated already. This Barley Wine is smooth, not bitingly bitter, balanced, uber-drinkable, rare for something so big and alcoholy. These hop-types and malt-combos work insanely well in this one. Oh my dear, DocLock only gave this a 3.5? C’mon, Doc! C’mon, RateBeer raters, stop following the crowd! Where am I supposed to knock this down in score? Can’t knock the apppearance, of course. You could theoretically knock its flavor for not being "intense like a Barley Wine should be," but it doesn’t have to be intense to be good. (What, it’s not "done to style" so you’re going to punish it even though it’s excellent?) I can’t knock the velvety palate. It’s got hop/malt complexity going on. The 9% ABV is insanely well-hidden. So what does it leave us to knock? When drinkability is this insane, you don’t knock it. Case closed.

Proud to be the lone maverick way-out-there high-rater on this one so far. They will come around on this one. Or else.

Hell, I’m even bumping this up mid-rating from 4.5 to 4.6, and pray I don’t alter it further.

On tap. Poured a deeper reddish / orange color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of caramel, fruity, oranges, citrus and some dark fruits. Tastes of caramel, citrus, fruity, and toffee. Light alcohol finish.

On tap at a Capone’s tasting. Pours a deep ruby red with an average off white creamy head. Aroma was fruity, medicinal, sweet malts, some cherry and caramel. Flavor of caramel, toasted malts, sweet malts, toffee and some slight hop bitterness.

Bottle from Capone’s. Hazy ruby pour with 1-finger tan head. Aroma of caramel malt, cherry, some oaky bourbony notes, and some earthy peaty notes. Tastes rich, very malty, with a heavy fig and cherry fruit bill, plus some cognac, cabernet, and peppery citrus notes. Gets a bit hot as it warms, and gains a spirity quality like a cognac/cabernet hybrid, as such.

At the 2nd Annual Hell With The Lid Off Barley Wine Festival at Kelly’s Bar in East Liberty, Pittsburgh. Hazy orange ruby, thin off white head. Aroma is cheap whiskey, socks. Flavor is watered down cheap whiskey, malt.

Bomber: 2006 vintage. Aroma is some fruity hop characteristics, decent malt texture, plums, and a bit of caramel. Appearance is a cloudy reddish/brown with a medium sized tan head that lasts. Flavor is nice plum and malt textures, some of the fruitiness from the hops, and still a little bit of the caramel. Palate is bubbly, quite carbonated and slightly sweet. Overall, A decent beer, but not one of the better Barley wine’s that I’ve tried.

diss22oz bottle. Poured into a large snifter. Dark brown topped with a thin tan head. Sweet toasted malty aroma with a bit of molasses. Flavor is sweet up front, then an odd, medicinal/herbal taste enters the fold. These flavors dissipate, giving way to a sweet burnt brown sugar flavor. Not a fan.

This is a good is a good beer very lite for a Barley Wine. Malty, plum, and dark fruit flavors. Clean, crisp, and lite tart finish.