Boulder Beer Killer Penguin Barleywine

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

2007 vintage, aged about one year. A clear, dark, crimson colored body is crowned with a creamy, khaki colored head. Large, wet spots of lacing hold on for dear life, some retreating down the glass, and others remaining behind to dry. The aroma shows bold caramel and toffee notes, with hints of cocoa, dark fruits, and ample citrus hops. Flavors follow suit, orange and grapefruit hop bitterness countering the sweet caramel and creamy toffee, mild winter spices lingering somewhere in the background. Hints of dates and brown sugar coated nuts are evident as well. Medium-full on the palate, the mouthfeel is smooth but a bit syrupy, finishing with a peppery hop kick on the back end. This is a tasty, hoppy, American style barleywine. Nice brew.

Vintage 2008. 22 oz. bottle. Pours a thin head, minimal duration, no lacing ,over a coppery amber body....nose of malts, caramel, balancing hops as it warms....tastes of heavy dosing of malts, very sweet and almost sticky in the mouth, finish is a bit of chemical complexity, reminds me of banana and Juicy Fruit gum, not at all unpleasantly....wonderfully heavy mouthfeel,. This needs to age a couple of years to balance out. I think its rating will then go up. 11/21/2008

I may be having this while it’s a bit too "young," as it doesn’t seem to have much of a developed feel to it. This actually strikes me very much like Lagunitas’s Gnarleywine did. (But I rated that one 4.3, Go figure. Must be the superficial similarities.) Pretty sweet but "thin" for a Barley Wine. It has a similar effect on the palate as a starchy "filling" food has.

Bottled. An amber beer with a lazing beige head. The aroma is sweet malty with notes of caramel and fruit. The flavor is sweet malty with notes of both fresh and over ripe fruits. The sweetness makes it a bit cloying. Thanks Papsoe for sharing.

Sweet/sour fruity aroma like extremely over ripe fruit. Pours dark orange amber with no head to speak of. The flavor just has too much damn over ripe fruit for me that bordered on a bad sour/vinegar flavor according to notes. Notes say, one of the most unpleasant at Hard Liver 08.

2006 Bomber via trade a long way ago, who from? Pours rosy orange with a tan ring. Nose is sweet but one dimensional. Taste is sweet and tasty, but also one dimensional. This is not horrible as I expected but it ain’t great either.

2007 bomber from Uber and Enniskillen! Nose of caramel, fig newtons, and a flowery hop note; hazy rusty brown with a small beige head; flavor is light hop bitterness, brown sugar, and prunes and raisins; finish is slight brown sugar and hop bitterness. Decently good BW!

Bottle from Tops in Tempe, I believe, waxed 2007 version. Pour featured a big but fast fading off-white to amber head. Lacing was weak. The aroma was raisins, caramel, some piney hops. The flavor followed the aroma, big caramel and raisins off the bat, followed by a blend of brown sugar and then piney hops and some faint tea bags in the finish. Big malty beer, but the hops were somewhat balancing with the higher temperatures, which is where I quite enjoyed this one.