Elysian Cyclops Barleywine

Brewed by Elysian Brewing Co.
Style: Barley Wine
Seattle, Washington USA

Bottle shared with tupalev & jerc - courtesy of tupalev. Hazy sunset orange colour with a small white head. Aroma of pineapple and citrus with a hint of spruce. Lots of hops in the flavour - orange and pine, quite bitter - with some boozy warmth in the finish. Definately needs more malt to round out the rough edges and dull both the hops and alcohol a touch.

Bottle (12oz). Cloudy light orange-gold with a small diminishing foamy head. Very sweet and juicy hops aroma - orange and tree-ripe pink grapefruit - with mild woodiness and alcohol to go with lightly toasted malt. Taste is a bit too boozy - reminds me of Grand Marnier - bitter candied orange rinds but mostly just boozy. Mouthfeel is a tad thin for a BW, lively and alcoholic - feels a little stronger than 9.85% - I liked it, but it needs more sophistication - or just more malt and hops to tone down the alcohol.

Bottle, shared with Jerc and GregClow. Hazy dark yellow, bubbly slick white head. Interesting floral, caramel, alcohol aroma - very strong citrus. Taste has strong alcohol at first, followed by some sweetness and citrus, the then the alcohol kicks back in. Creamy but thin mouthfeel. Some strong hops in the finish. This one is all alcohol though and it is tough to get past it.

Golden amber body, with a nice white head that diminishes (3+). Interesting aroma of alcohol, with a fruit sweetness. Hops are present but not easily decipherable. Something between grapefruit and pineapple. Flavour is very alcoholic with a good amount of hop bitterness, muted grapefruit and pineapple beneath waves of hoppy booze. Medium palate. Pretty young and rough. A bruiser with potential for reform.

Draught at the brewpub. Hazy nut brown. Severely malty with tick and extremely syrupy mouthfeel. There’s plenty of grapefruity hops, but they drown in an ocean of syrup. Sticky bitter finish. Very raw and unrefined, hopefully some time in the cellar can mature the stickyness away, but I doubt it’ll ever become great.

Very nice apricot color...very little head. Light malty smell. At first taste, very sharp sweetness with hints of brown sugar. Alcohol is very prominent.

This beer pours a deep orangey slight red color with a thin soapy white head and a light degree of lacing around the edges of the glass. Aroma of pine, grass, malt with a hint of wood. A little hint of rubbing alcohol presence in the nose. Flavor-wise this starts of very mediocre and then a caramelly candy-sugar induced implosion occurs in the mouth. I mean this is pure candy sugar, alcohol burn and oak agedness that attacks the back of the tongue. Prickly and piney carbonation. Medium bodied, the alcohol presence in this beer becomes incredibly noticeable after a few sips. Overwhelming sweetness and an absence of the pine I got in the nose. Dry but not overly dry finish. Acceptable on a cold night.

Hazy orange pour that grows an off-white head with intricate lacing. Vinous nose betrays the advanced age through a slightly oxidized sherry-like flavour that nonetheless works quite well. Very fruity nature, backed by caramel pills sweetness. Condensed faint nuttiness is overwhelmed by the growing raisin bread aromas. Candyish and very sweet palate, the hops are not so aromatics anymore, but they are well bitter and kinda vegetal, possibly Chinook in that regard, let’s just say they’re not my favourite variety. Malty palate, medium bodied with fading carbonation.