DuClaw Devils Milk

Brewed by DuClaw Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Abingdon, Maryland USA

growler courtesy of egadjzis at Richlikebeer’s YEHA ’05. I’ve been waiting a while to try this one. cloudy golden color - doesn’t really look like a barley wine... foamy tan head. strong hop aroma, flavor is whiskey and hop with a malty backbone in the finish. hmm, a west coast barley wine from Maryland? Interesting.

Poured a cloudy amber with a white head. Aroma is a strong mix of caramel and piney hops. Taste is remarkably balanced between strong bitter pine hops and caramel sweetness. Lots of dry alcohol. Seems a bit overhopped for a bw and a bit too malty for a IIPA... just a well made kick-in-the-ass American Strong Ale if you ask me.

2005 version: Ok, so this really didnt impress me. Ruby colored, no head, sugar and dried fruit in the nose, sweet flavor, sticky mouthfeel, notes of sugar, some caramel, and some dark fruit, but mostly dominated by sugar. give me an old horizontal over this any day.

Tasted from Growler. Poured a darker and clear mahogany color with a very small sized off white head. Aromas of caramel, citrus, light cherries, and all around hops (very hoppy). Tastes of caramel, some dark fruits, and grapefruit. Light warming alcohol bite in the finish (but not 12+%).

Growler sample via egadjzis at rich’s YeHa 05. I guess I went across the grain with this beer, as I did not particularly think it was that special. This sample has a hoppy, hempy, sweet sugary aroma. This smells much more like an IPA/IIPA than a barleywine. I do not get much of the vinous aromas that I like to smell in a barleywine. Mildly hazy copper color with a yellowish head. Very sweet, sticky sticky start, turning more malty in the middle. Mild vinousness and some hempy hops to finish. This beer hides the ethanol well, but it is very sweet and kind of cloying. I was disappointed with this offering. Perhaps in time, this would improve.

12/2/05: On Tap, Bowie.
Hoppy aroma. Brown with a subtle red tint, accompanied with a light tan head. Body is creamy with clinging lace left on glass. Large hoppy fir tree taste. Warming and tasty. Bitter finish. Definitely dry-hopped.

Draught at the original brewpub in Bel Air, MD. Served much too cold, but in a proper snifter, and poured a clear orange-amber with a thick, silky and persistent cream-colored head. Aroma of sweet, woodsy maple syrup with a note of cherry. Flavor is medium sweet, fresh and hoppy with warm, tasty spice notes of cinnamon and brown sugar and significant woody bitterness plus some distinct alcoholic heat. Medium-full body is smooth and creamy. A very good and adequately mature barley wine, but this really begs to be bottle-conditioned and laid down for a spell.

Draft at DuClaw. Ruby/amber body with big creamy, off-white head. The Aroma is hoppy, floral, pine, citrus and malt, caramel and toffee. Alcohol is detectable in the nose. The flavor is bitter hops and sweet malt, some grapefruit, spice, musty, caramel, toffee, plums and alcohol. The mouthfeel is smooth and silky