Bison Organic Barleywine

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

Bottle: Deep orange, fairly burnt in color, moderate foamy light beige head, fairly nice lacing.   Sweet malty nose, slightly phenolic, a little bit of band-aid, but not too much.   Noticing some citrus peel and little bit of alcohol as well.   Citrusy bitterness up front, some hop presense, malty, but not in a heavy sense.   Semi-sweet, with a tangy finish.   Body isn’t as thick or viscous as other examples, however it is somewhat clean.   Moderate mouthfeel.   Finishes somewhat rough... sticky in the mouth, with a little metallic notes.   Alcohol is noticeable, but not bad.   Yeah, finishes like stale ice, or perhaps icecicles that have been formed off of rain gutters.   Too much metallic aftertaste.   Overall not bad, too light in the body, with a finish that is a little rough.

Aroma of sweetish malt and citrus hop? Slightly hazy amber color. Smattering of tatters of a white head. Starts with a strange sweetness - a bit pruny or slightly medicinal. Medium mouthfeel. The alcohol is noticeable, but not harsh. Very smooth, develops nicely, but it’s not an incredibly hoppy barleywine. Just a strong, malty drink. For sipping.

An excellent barley wine. Really knocked my socks off. Aroma is sweet. Appeance is cloudy brown with a nice thick bubbly head. Mouthfeel is smooth and flavor is rich. You can taste all the grain that is added to it and the alcohol content is strong. I need to eat after having it on an empty stomach. A great brew that I will try again.

The ratings on this beer are HARSH. Are people getting bad bottles or just rating based on the overall percentile? I dunno, but this is a very decent barleywine, nonetheless. Pour is typical. I get a decent off-white, foamy head that lasts at least five minutes. Taste is your average barleywine flavors of sweet malt and toffee. Nothing special but certainly nothing to scoff at. An enjoyable and decent barleywine. When you take in to consideration the 9.5 ABV, it make this brew even easier to give a bump in the ratings. I might not know much, but I know this brew isn’t deserving of it’s low ratings here.

A very aggressive pour raises a medium sized light tan head. The body is a hazy caramel. The aroma shows some oxidation along with sweetness toffee and alcohol. The flavor is very sweet and very bitter. The combination is not very good. Both the sweetness and the bitterness are very coarse. Full syrupy body that finishes all prickly and not very good. Overall a very sad barleywine. Seems to me if they are going to insist on using barley and hops that are grown in an unsustainable (other than at the boutique level) way, then the beer ought to at least be good, it is not.

Blind tasting of 19 BWs. This sample had a slightly hazy light copper color to it with a thin off-white head. Caramel sweet malty aroma had some earthy hop notes. Mild notes of alcohol. Overall the aroma was on the lighter side. The flavor was on the dull side. Mildly sweet malt flavor with a big bitter finish from both the hops and alcohol. Some warmth in the chest.

Another courtesy of boboski, although I think he would have preferred this one courtesy someone else, lol. i was intrigued by this one because I did not know Bison made a barleywine. i have had most of the other beers that they make, if not all of them except this one. Pours a dark amber with a light white head. It smells of light hops and citrus, with a hint of sourness in there. Definitely has some grassy notes in it as well. It tastes of hops, syrupy malt, with a slight bitterness. also detected a little dark fruit in there as well. I didnt overly enjoy this one but i thought it was at the very least drinkable. Ive definitely had better Bison beers in the past though.

Bomber. Clear dark amber pour. Fully diminishing white head. This is the part where I say "is this a joke?". Boisterous, raucous hop aroma, totally uncontrolled and interestingly is the first time I’ve encountered bold hops in a barleywine and found them to be completely offensive. Also notes of wet paint, wet grass and a near toxic vegetal aroma bordering on the smell of parsley left on the counter for six weeks. Flavor is rusty. Vegetal character dominates in the flavor and aroma, muting what nice components may lie underneath, though at this point I’ve convinced myself there is nothing else underneath. I have found many Bison beers odd, but also rather enjoyable, and have no idea how this made it out the front door of the brewery. Ultimately a drain pour. This brand of funk is not suitable for consumption in my house. Loser brew of the year, and the year just started.