Back Road No. 9 Barleywine

Brewed by Back Road Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
LaPorte, Indiana USA

Bottled. Hazy ruby. Fruity crystal malt aroma. Sweet with clean, chewy mouthfeel. Somewhat sticky and very salty, unusually fruity. Medium bitterness. Not entirely succesful.

Date: 02/23/2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party

Appearance: hazy dark amber, fine beige head,
Aroma: sweet dark caramel aroma with a nice fruityness balanced by lots of earthy hops,
Flavor: big sweet caramel malt flavor, nice fruity character, nice sweetness from the caramel, lots of earthy character keeps it balanced,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.8/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

Hazy red-brown with small beige head. Aroma is medium sweet, malty, fruity, grapefruit. Taste is sweet, English style bw up front before abruptly shifting to big grapefruit. Finishes intense grapefruit and medium alcohol. Medium-full body. Definitely a barleywine, and not bad, but it seems like it's unsure whether it's aiming for the big malty English or the big hoppy American style.

12oz bottle acquired in trade with BBB63 (thanks!). Poured a deep oragish/amber color with an averaged sized off white head. Aroams of strong caramel, toffee, some dark fruits, and a little earthy. Tastes of caramel, cherries, and citrus. Medium alcohol in the finish.

Bottle... A&K’s4thAHBT... Hazy golden ale with a small, beige head. The aroma is a blend of dimestore perfumes and colognes... can’t describe it better than that. Malty flavor up front, but equally bitter on the backside. Full-bodied with a creamy mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Finishes tongue numbingly bitter and boozy.

Light copper golden color with a nice light tan head. Wonderfully sweet caramel hoppy aroma. Good complexity in the sweet malty body, and well balanced with a good amount of floral bittering hops. A very enjoyable barleywine. Thank you BBB63!

The Lure:
Earthy yeast walking casually through a meringue. Caramel attempts to unite, and sometimes succeeds. Strong alcohol wafts hit sporadically.

The Festivities:
Fruity caramel evokes maple syrup, but dissolves into raw brown sugar too quickly. Citrusy candy furtively spans the round mouthfeel, not exactly agreeing with what they see. Not complex, but nonetheless enjoyable if you have no other barley wine available.

Transcendence:
A forgotten vehicle, still ready to rev its engines.

Pours dark amber with a trace of white bubbles floating on the top of the glass. Smells of caramel, maple, some dark fruit. Tastes fruity and sweet with some cherry like hints on the finish. Enjoyable.