Bison Organic Barleywine

Brewed by Bison Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Berkeley, California USA

bottle from 2006. aroma of corriander, caramel, and clove. light beige head with no lacing. peeper and fruit on the mouthfeel. alcohol on the finish. decent barley wine, by no means the best i’ve had

2005 Bomber, a gift from Odeed and our friend Devin; Nose of caramel, apples, and spices; hazy copper with a small beige head; flavor of sweet caramel, fruitiness, and clove & peppery spices, along with some alcohol, which stands as the finish. As it warmed the piney hop bitterness came out nicely.This is a decent barleywine. Much better than a 3!

2005 bottling. Medium amber brown, decent initial head fades to a ring. Nice nose of caramel, toffee, citrus hops, and bitterness. Flavor is thin caramel with some dry pungent citric hops, rather like a slightly crisped lemon peel. Bitter finish. Some pepper. Way too light bodied. It is thin, syrupy, and bitter, all at the same time. This just didn’t come together for me.

Clear cherry brown body with a medium creamy tan head. Sweet molassas, rum-soaked fruit, caramel and tea aroma. Heavy malty flavor, light spice and pepper followed by molassas and some very sweet fruit.

With the exceptions of St. Peter’s offereings and Butte Creek’s Organic Revolution X, the constant problem with organics seems to be a flat, wooden flavor. This beer is no different. Murky brown pour with no head. Aroma of caramel malt, grassy hops, and state bread. Wooden flavor, with a heaping of earthy malt and a hoppy finish. There is some toffee in there, as advertised, but it is blended with a syrupy, dirty mess.

Bottle: At first sip, I didn’t like this at all. It has an odd spicyness to it that didn’t sit well with me. However, once this warmed it awesome. It’s a tad bit too sweet, but it’s good. really good. Totally underrated.

Bottle... Mostly clear, rose-hued, amber ale with a small, creamy, off-white head. Excellent retention. Perfumy aroma with additional notes of caramel malt and fruitcake. The flavor is sweet and sticky. The moderate bitterness isn’t enough to slice cleanly through the rich, candy-malt sweetness, but it does prevent cloying and make the beer palatable. Full-bodied with a syrupy mouthfeel and restrained carbonation. Lengthy, sweet, grassy finish. Thanks to boboski for providing this underrated gem!

Bottled in 2005, from a 22 oz. bomber with a blurb along the right side of the label, stored at cellar temperature and allowed to warm up a bit before sampling in a snifter. Poured a cloudy reddish orangey amber with a small foamy, creamy off-white head, good retention, minimal amount of sticking. Fruity and malty nose, lightly cherry, plums, licorice, caramelized sugar and toffee, a touch of earthy spice. Moderate carbonation and a crisp, dry, slick, a little rough in the palate, medium bodied mouthfeel, on the lighter side of medium, airy. Different tasting barley wine, not a lot of the English fruitiness, soft, but not bright, berries and green dates, licorice, toffee with a pinch of sugar, the alcohol provides only a very low, watery warmth, only in the aftertaste could you guess this is above 9%, the strange part of the taste for me was the earthy, green wood hoppiness with a lingering bark bitterness that is not in keeping with the English style, and a dry caramel toffee finish with any sweetness destroyed by the woody bitterness from the hops. When I think of an English style barley wine I think of a smooth, lightly sweet, fruity, pleasant sipper, and this isn’t it, I am now sorry that I sent to this someone in a trade.