East End Gratitude

Brewed by East End Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA

Bottle 686/1500 of 2007:   Deep amber, very rich and vibrant, large frothy sand colored head, fairly nice lacing.   Sweet malty nose, has a bit of candyish citrus peel and chocolate covered cherry.   Has this tootsie roll pop sweetness, like the candy shell.   Definitely on the sweeter side, malty, with a soft hop aspect.   Backside has a bit of that tootsie roll chocolate sweetness.   Body and mouthfeel are moderate to full.   As it warms it gets even sweeter.   Can get a bit cloying, especially if snacking on something sweet.   Recommended having this one at a bit colder temps.   Very unique, thankfully not a hop bomb, but a bit sweeter than I would have preferred.   Glad I have another bottle to share tho!   Thanks to Hophead22 and Treyrab for both sending me a bottle.

First off, this is the sexiest bottle out there. Paper bag wrap, beautifully designed, yellow wax. Awesome and very unique. Pours a deep brown. Nose is dark fruits, raisin, plum, toffee, caramel, earthy hops. Flavor is mild chocolate, plum, raisin, dark ripe cherries, earthy mustiness. Very very nice. Need to score more of this one.

Bottle courtesy of tampabrew, bottle # 1040/1500, yellow wax. I have to admit that this is one of the coolest bottles I have seen -- I think I could rate how well the beer is wrapped! Pours a hazy cola brown with reddish highlights and one finger off-white head. Aroma is sweet and malty with notes of toffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, light floral hops. Flavor is sweet and malty with notes of caramel, sweet chocolate, toffee, brown sugar, some ripe dark fruit. Medium body with a lightly boozy malty finish. Nice barleywine.

Bought this at the brewery in June and was waiting for winter to get here before opening. I guess it is the Goldfinch although I don’t know my birds very well. Hand labeled as 1473/1500 and signed by Scott. Pours a reddish amber with barely any head. Aroma of dried dark plums, molasses, maybe some oak? Flavor is very well balanced, mellow and smooth. All the above come through with a very nice warming on the throat. As it warms the alcohol becomes more pronounced. Very nice finish that warms you up. It just snowed in Jersey and it’s about 30 degrees right now. I’m sitting outside with my dogs around 5:30 and it’s very dark. I have some Lynyrd Skynyrd Christmas songs on the cd player and all is good.

Sampled from a bottle opened by rustychiles -- thanks, man! Purty label, for sure. Pours a dark amber color with a trim beige head. Smells like a combination of Wooden Hell and Ovation. Very inviting, but the flavor does not follow through. Tastes faintly of hops, yeast, caramel, and candy sugar. The alcohol is well masqued, but the flavor is tame. However, I must note that this was consumed next to a number of epic beers.

Sample from bottle courtesy of rusty. Had a yeasty bread aroma. Hazy gold body. Had a bready grain with some caramel in the flavor. Little alcoholic but alright.

BA trade, bottle # 1184/1500, yellow wax. The wrapping itself is worth a rating. pours dark/cloudy ruby, thick off white head. Aroma has some amazing hoppy/citrus nose, with caramel malts and fruits. Flavor, dark/brown sugar, caramel malts, thin bitter hops. Got some tropical fruits elements adding for a sweet smooth palate coupled with medium carbonation and grainy finish mixed with caramel.

pours a hazy reddish with a white head. aroma is faded hops malt caramel tannins brown sugar. flavor is faded hops malt caramel brown sugars. great bw.