Bluegrass Bearded Pats Barleywine Style Ale

Brewed by Bluegrass Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Louisville, Kentucky USA

Very sweet and malty barley wine. Alcohol very pronounced. Intense flavors. Enjoyable beer all around.

In short: A slightly problematic but well hopped barley wine. Bad bottle?
How: Bottle. Age unknown. Tasting session with Montreal crew.
The look: Cloudy redish-brown with almost no head
In long: Strange “organic” nose. Body has a good amount of caramel but also notes of meat and blood. Weird. Very sweet but it almost goes unnoticed thanks to a generous amount of hops. Limited fruity notes, if any. Lifeless carbonation and body. My drinking partners were less than thrilled about this bottle. The beer had problems but I like hoppy barley wine so I didn’t think it was so bad. With the lifeless body and meaty/blood flavours that I noted I’m assuming that this was a problematic (or old?) bottle. This one definitely requires another try. I don’t know if I’m supposed to hate it or like it, like seeing an endangered animal eating an endangered plant.

Bouteille de 750 ml partagée lors d’une dégustation Ratebeer Montréal chez Glouglouburp. Arôme: Odeur de caramel légèrement furité. Apparence: La couleur est ambrée voilée. Saveur: Goût de caramel légèrement fruité avec une pointe chocolatée. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement huileuse. Faible effervescence en bouche. Légère présence de chocolat en arrière goût. (Rating #2649)

My Bottom Line:
Fruity caramel malts topple cheesy wooden hops in this nearly flat, withered Barley Wine.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-There is no head whatsoever atop the hazy red.
-The decent hop bitterness was wooden and leafy.
-There was no complexity at all in here, on top of it being a tad tired. Quite boring for was is meant to be a serious sipper.
-The fruitiness was not really defined.

Bottle.

Bottle at Toncatcher’s T3 Tasting. Sweet, buttery malty. Amber color. Very good. Mellowed. Easy to drink.

25 oz bottle. Pours a clear copper to amber body with a minimal fizzy beige head that completely vanished. The nose is big caramel maltiness with just a little toffee. Some light resiny hops and noticable alcohol, a little earthiness. The malt lacks any complexity at all on the flavor, it’s just super sweet brown sugar and caramel through and through. The minimal hopping doesn’t help. The alcohol is pretty well hidden at least. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with a fairly limp, lifeless, almost syrupy feel. Very minimal soft carbonation. This just didn’t do anything for me other than give me a pleasant buzz.

Bottle shared by Dogbrick. Clear red pour with no head. Malty aroma with caramel and fruit with a bit of hops. Caramel malt flavor up front with subtle hops for a dry finish. Good for a b-wine because it’s sweet but not too sweet.

12 o.z bottle - thanks riversideak; forget if this was designated by year; pours dark amber with fluffy white head; tons of sugary malts and touch of hops; a little hot, but love the heavy sugar and dark fruits; a pretty dank BW