Bluegrass Bearded Pats Barleywine Style Ale

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

Medium towards dark copper, head comes up and then dies pretty hard. Aroma is rich malts, bready, yeasty, some caramel and toffee, over a slightly citric hop. Flavor is a match, although the citric hop falls faint as it warms. Despite the citrus in the hop, this is decidedly English in nature. Very enjoyable. Pleasantly surprised to discover that this was 2 years old on the nose when I consumed it, must have sat in the store a good while. Good stuff, nice sipper.

12 oz. bottle from 06. Pours a hazy dark copper color with a large beige head with good retention. The aroma has nice caramel malt, alcohol, and a surprising hop presence givin its age. The flavor has chewy caramel malt, grassy hops, moderate sweetness, and a slight dusty sensation. Full bodied and very drinkable. The 10.5% is not much of a factor other than to cause a warming effect. This is still decent, but there are better examples out there.

750 via trade a ways back, funny to rate this right after Vac a fellow SD Ratebeerian. Pours deep orange with a tan head. Nose is sweet with malty caramel malts. Sweet taste is a lot of big malts and caramel. Nicely warming and very drinkable for 10%+

Pours with a deep amber body topped by a thick head with a good amount of lacing. Its sweet and malty with a caramel and light candy sugar note as well as underlying alcohol esters and a moderate hoppiness. Full bodied, smooth and a touch warming.

Pours dark caramel with no head. The nose is bourbon and malt, with a sweet front with mid palate that goes cardboard oxidized and a bit hot.

Bottled in Dec. 06. Poured deep plum with a dusting of beige head and sticky lacing as it descended. The aroma picked up sweeter, juicy dark fruits, cereal, and aged caramel.. warm, but the alcohol was well masked.. slight green apple on the uptake, which wasn’t awful, but it detracted a little from my enjoyment. The flavor had more of the sticky, aged malts throughout with caramel, toffee, and lesser dark fruit.. bitter herbal notes were mild on the edges, and the apple re-emerged right at the finish along with resiny bitterness that didn’t much help.. still quite tasty overall. Heavier-bodied with tight-bubbled creamy carbonation upfront and a tacky, flatter feel on the back.. warmed up the throat and belly. I’d like to compare against a fresh bottle.

750ml from Eithcubes - thanks, Mike! Been about 15 months since I received this and I finally pulled it out of the cellar to try. Garnet pour, clean body with hints of ruby and brown, very little carbonation. Appealing malty aroma, with just a touch of booze. Mouthfeel’s better than expected and the beer is nice and mellow, with well balanced caramel malts, some autumn fruits, and a hop bite to liven things up. Finish is a bit more dusky, almost old ale-ish. Not top notch but certainly enjoyable.

750ml bottle. Poured a clear garnet color with a hint of brown. The head consisted of small, off white soap bubbles that popped quickly. The aroma was dominated by fruit (black cherry, raisin, fig, apple) and molasses. There was also some chocolate and cinnamon. Medium to full bodied and sweet with mild bitterness. Carbonation was on the far low end of the spectrum. The flavor profile included the likes of cherry liqueur, raisin,raspberry, citrusy hops, tobacco, and dark toffee. Not bad at all.