Barley Island Single White Friar Ale

Brewed by Barley Island Brewing
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Noblesville, Indiana USA

Thanks to the Tampa Tasting Group for sharing this one. Pours caramel brown with an off-white head. Nose is malt, caramel, candy sugar, some yeast, and some spice. Flavor is similar with candy sugar, booze, and some yest and pepper. Lingering yeast and candy sugar with lingering raisin flavor. Interesting beer.

Wax covered bottle and served in my Ommegang Anniversary tulip: Pours a deep cola brown with a fading fizzy off-white head and spotty lace. The aroma has notes of candi sugar, molasses, plum wine and figs, a hint of clove and cardamom, and a touch of tobacco. The taste starts fruity sweet and spicy with along spicy finish. Some notes of alcohol, red wine barrel and hop bittering. The mouth feel is quite sticky and lush, warming and soft carbonation. I am perplexed by this brew, there are some excellent characteristics but it still missed the mark overall for balance. "E" for the effort never the less.

Shared by JCB. Poured a nice dark brown with a one finger foamy light tan head. Nose shows some of they typical belgian sweetness, yeasty, estery, dark fruits. Flavor is pretty tasty, sweet and estery, malty character. Raisiny. Nice carbonation.

Bottle. Off-white/tan thick head, diminishes to a ring. Color is dark brown. Pretty malty right away which gives way to dark fruit and sugar. Finishes very smooth, lingers on the palate. Good stuff.

Bottle. Short, off-white head, mostly diminishing atop a hazy ruby brown body. The aroma was heavy with candi sugar and dark fruits, plum and fig. Notes of caramel, cherry and a hint of clove and mustiness. The flavor was moderately to heavily sweet and lightly bitter. It finished moderately sweet and lightly to moderately bitter with some hot alcohol throughout. A vinegary taste floats underneath the sweet, almost cloying, flavor. Medium to full body with a smooth texture. Modedrate carbonation. Good, but the flavors do not blend together as well as they do with the best of the Belgian strong ales.

grey wax dipped 12 oz bottle. pours a dark ruby red with a very small quicky diminishing beige head. alcohol, cough syrup, dark fruits, carmamel. sticky lip feel. like an easy drinking port. pretty tasty

had fresh. aroma is lots of roasted malts, nutty sweetness, some bourbon/alcohol. drinks with an alcohol bite but has sweet malts, caramel, brown sugar, rich red fruits and spice. finishes hot with alcohol. will have to re-rate after some age.

Grey wax-dipped bottle. Brown sugar nose, a little nutty, heavy quad-like dark fruit with figgy/plummy tones, a little berry, and a little tobacco. Some sweet phenols. Ruby-caramel pour with a good tan head. Tangy, sticky malt presence, lots of sludgy (vominty) caramel, earthy tobacco, and a little too much booze showing. Sticky lips and full body, sweet and dry, touch of spice with candi sugar, and some cloves and figs and cherry. Some nice flavors here but it’s rather rough around the edges.