Bison Organic Barleywine

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

Sampled as part of a 19 beer blind barleywine tasting: Clear bronze copper with a nicely-lacing white head. Aroma of dry, earthy, slightly tart crystal malt and light grapefruit. Body starts fairly full with a mild earthy sweetness and a good hoppy bitterness toward a crisp bitter finish.

Man was thing thing completely lost. Somewhere between the idea of doing a Barley Wine and bottling one there was a big problem. Someone forgot that you need a good recipe and some flavor in the product that you intend to sell.This thing really sucks.

22oz bomber 2005 Vintage. Pours a light abmer with a generous puffy white head. The aroma is light and not distinguished. I’d have to say that the front end of the taste is nice and I’ll concur with theshocker that the aftertaste is really potent and yucky. Its not sweet, strong, or dark enough to be considered a good BW for me. Its fine but not great.

Dark amber, small off white head. Floral, sweet aroma. Caramel, toffee. Mild hops. I enjoyed the first sip but there’s a medicinal aftertaste that kicks in. The more you drink the less it affect you ;). Still, not the best BW. Spend another $1 or 2 and get something better.

22oz bomber from 2005. Dark copper color with thin off white head. Medium strength malty and fruity aroma. Taste is sweet with some malt complexity. There’s some dark fruit like cherries or dates along with roasted malts. Near the finish some bitterness wells up and becomes overly grassy during the aftertaste. The finish begins to take on the nasty flavor of cough syrup. Not good. The aroma too. I haven’t had an English Style Barleywine that taste like this. The grassiness and the cough syrup made me pour about half down the drain. Really far from good. Yet anther in a long line of disappointing organic beers.

This pours a clear chestnut body with a slender, lasting white head. The nose is primarily toffee supported by alcohol and a touch of zest of lemon. The latter builds up in the flavor, the toffee is joined by a bit of butterscotch, and the alcohol level remains constant. It finishes on a bitter ctric hop note. Okay.

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Pours a bronze color with a thin tan head. Sweet malt aromas of molasses and toasted suger with some banana and alcohol notes. Rich alcohol flavors with malt sweetness an some dark fruit and toffee flavors. Both roasted malt and herbal hop bitterness. Medium body overall with prominent-but-pleasant alcohol and a light finish.

22 oz bottle obtained locally. Hazy amber color. Bready Aroma with some diacytl, orange, pine and caramel. Starts sweet and finishes sour and dry, with a lingering hoppy grapefruit and sour lemon aftertaste Lots of butterscotchy diacetyl, but not so much as to be unplesant. A tad bit astringant. A bit rough (but still good) and i bet with some aging would turn out very nice. Reminds me of the Stone 10th IPA but drier and better!