Boulder Beer Killer Penguin Barleywine

Brewed by Boulder Beer Company
Style: Barley Wine
Boulder, Colorado USA

2006 Bomber via BeerandBlues2 in trade. Pours a medium tea brwon with a ruby heart. Head is minimal and realy only rings the glass. The damn wax was a mother to get off the bottle, looks like they had it at just the right temp so they didn’t have to double dip it. Nose is all sweet malts and whisps of hops. The body is full and tingles lightly of hops around the edges. It finishes abrubtly with a ephemeral aftertaste of whole hops and spices. The bottle is pretty busy and attempts to hype up this average barleywine. Good on this moderatly cold evening. thanks again to B&BL2!

Dark red amber. Aroma and flavor is sweet fruits, caramel, citrus with a smooth, sweet malty finish. Smooth and easy drinking with a rather light body.

Cellar-aged 2006 bottling: Coppery crimson. Healthy off-white head turns rocky before nestling into a fine cream. Raisins, pineapple upside-down cake and stewed plum aroma. Mild whiff of oxidation, biscuity malt and doughy yeast. Dense and feathery carbonation. Softly bodied. Initial tingle of pineapple and grapefruit acidity melts into a backdrop of sweet caramel-drenched plums. Lively esters mimic notes of peach candy and a bright plummy fruitiness which is explosively juicy as it is bright. Body is borderline flabby due to the resins, but the fruitiness is tightly integrated. High concentration of fruitiness Slight grainy malt (Munich?) coupled with the cardboardy oxidation makes for a semi-astringent swallow which also taints the fairly bright fruitiness. Hop oils lap the palate with a dense sappiness which happens to overshadow the nuanced fruitiness, but the bitterness is subdued. Plenty of mango and grapefruit, but the acidity is overaggressive. Timid finish teeters on the edge of medicinal, due to the relatively strong presence of alcohol and steadily heightening sweetness. Lingering hints of plums and grapefruit (zest and all). Has some redeeming qualities such as softness and decent balance, but the nose is yeasty and the hops overly acidic. Definitely one of BBC’s best beers, which sadly isn’t saying much.

Delayed entry from Tasting at Holiday Beerfest in Omaha: Pours mahogany with small off-white head. Aroma is mostly sweet malt with some dark fruit intermingled. Sweet flavor is dominated by caramel malt and some raisin-like accents...very sweet though! Light on the palate (esp compared to other BWs) with good carbonation. Some alcohol on the finish. Not bad, but not great.

the waxy cap was annoying to get off but thats because i don’t like taking more than 10 seconds trying to open a beer. poured a cloudy dark amber, lighter than a typical barley wine. smell was malt, bread, heavy pine or spruce like hops. Taste was well balanced but not as strong as most barley wines, caramel acidic malt, powerful hops that lend to some bittering. alcohol warming. body was medium.

Waxy cover. A decent barleywine, but a little light for a barley wine. Light in color and taste, but not bad.

Poured a hazy reddish amber color with a small, off white head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of caramel malts, dark fruits, floral hops, pine, and tobacco. Taste of caramel malts, some wood, nuts, and dried fruits, citrus, and a bit of alcohol in the finish.

Foam Rangers January meeting. Amber pour with no head. Nose is sweet fruits with candied sugars and hops. Flavor is not very deep and lack what I’m looking for in a barley wine.