Berkshire Holidale

Brewed by Berkshire Brewing Co.
Style: Barley Wine
South Deerfield, Massachusetts USA

2008 Vintage on tap. Hazy dark golden body with thin whispy white head. Nose of candy (like candy canes, but not the peppermint kind), some butterscotch, toffee and apple juice. Pallate was really nice and mellow. Active carbonation and just a slight hint of alcohol warmth buried behind some heavy sugars and light malts. Flavors of caramel, toffee, meaty blood orange, sweet cherries and guava. Maybe even some honey and dry grain. There was certainly a lot going on, maybe too much, but the mild pallate really put up a drinkable 9.5%

2006 bomber. Poured coppery-amber with a short cap of beige head. The aroma picked up sweet caramel, toffee, and redder fruity sweetness laced with peppery alcohol.. warmth brought out a whole bunch of honey that I really dug.. a tad brighter than I’d like, but otherwise very good. The flavor opened with tangy, warm citrus notes backed by mead-like honey from the nose and semi-dry caramel.. some fruity and floral character toward the back.. sharp and a little bit sour in places.. finished with the tasty malts. Medium bodied and warm on the palate with light carbonation.. nice slow feel from the thick malts.. dry, grainy, residual sugars and a hit of tangy citrus at the end. This wasn’t great, but I’d have another.

The appearance is cloudy deep red. Some debris floating. Head disappears quickly. Cherry red. The smell isn’t very strong, so there’s not much to say about it except some grainy barley malt. The taste is gritty, almost musty malt, but not skunky. It’s funky and appropriate. A really nice hop accent. Slight sourness and leather. Raisin and sweet cherry comes out too. Some sweet honey too. It’s thick and chewy, but smooth, buttery and oily too. It’s a thick and rich beer. A smooth barleywine.

Bottle. Caramel color. Light rimmed head. Chocolate, banana, malty. roasted notes. Smooth and sweet; not bitter or tart as I would have expected. A little watery and thin in body. Left a green tea residual on its way down. ok.

Clearish amber color with a medium tan head. Aroma of malt, grain, candi sugar and fruit. Strawberry flavor with lots of sugar and some cream. Didn’t get any hop character, which left this one way too sweet.

Bottle into red wine glass, 2008 vintage. Thanks to ppoitras for this one. Pours a very hazy, almost murky red-brown, with an off white head that starts off small and disappears quickly. Nose starts off sweet and fruity, apples come through along with a bit of caramel, and quite a bit of rye. Even more rye as the beer warms. Some ripe red berry as well, underneath. The taste, however, makes up for it. Dominated by sweet, rich, spicy rye with some sweet caramel and nicely prickly hops, which grab onto a fruity sweetness that hints at apples and maramalade. Hops seem to be integrated in - the whole flavor is rather seamless, hops and malt and rye and sweet and bitter all kind of melding together. Leads to a couple of things: one, this isn’t what I’d call a complex beer. There seems to be one rather integrated flavor rather than multiple flavor profiles hitting separately, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Two, coupled with nary a hint of alcohol, you get an insane smoothness that makes the beer stupidly drinkable. Drinks like a 6.5% abv beer. Finish is lightly bitter, a bit warming. Mouthfeel is thick, a bit syrupy, with a fluffy, prickly carbonation that just matches perfectly with the prickly hops and the spicy rye.

Bomber - Poured a nice clear reddish brown in color with a small off-white head. Some lacing on the glass. Aroma is both hoppy and sweet with some roasted malts filtered in. Flavor is pretty hoppy and bitter to start, but the malt understructure mellows it all out in the end. Alcohol is pretty well hidden, but definitely present. Finishes with a lengthy hop bitterness. Typical of a hoppy barleywine... nothing all that special, but enjoyable.

2008 vintage. Light brown body. Tall rocky head. Hoppy nose. Strong hop taste out front. Fruity. Nuts. Slightly more alcoholic in the finish, but mostly well-hidden. Nice, dry finish.