Estes Park Barley Wine

Brewed by Estes Park Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Estes Park, Colorado USA

(12oz bottle, 2001 vintage, courtesy of BMan1113VR) Pours a murky amber body with a spare off-white head. Aroma of caramel, toffee, cherry, raisins, and roasted grain. Flavor of caramel malt, roastiness, hint of thyme, and raisins.

Fairly new batch, bottle bought at the brewery. Head is initially small, frothy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is hazy medium amber. Aroma is moderately malty (caramel, cookie), moderately hoppy (grapefruit), with notes of toffee and alcohol. Flavor is heavily sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is moderately sweet, moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, syrupy texture, soft carbonation, moderately alcoholic. A little better than the batch I had two years ago, but still a pretty simplistic and uninteresting rendition. Lighter bodied than most barleywines.

Bottle. Pours a hazy mahagoney with a ruby tint and no head, with the exception being some slow rising bubbles congregating on top of the brew and at the glass edge. Complex malty and hoppy aroma with raisins, lots of caramel and toffee notes, and a pleasant sweet chocolate nose. Flavor is very hoppy starting out, followd by an intense dry hop finish, yet the caramel malts find their way in between the hops. Warm and full bodied palate that finishes progressingly spicy as the beer leaves your mouth.

Pours a hazy orange-brown color, with a small off-white head.It has a nose of raisins and molasses. Thick smooth palate. Flavor is sweet malt with toffee and raisins. Finishs with a bitterness I cant place.

2001 or 2002 bottle via a trade with ratman197. Pours with a very small head over a muddy bronze body. Aroma has tons of caramel, licorice, leather, currants, sherry and brown sugar. Taste is brown sugar, sherry and caramel. Age has been very friendly to this beer. Light bubbles.

Dark and murky-brown. Sweet, hoppy-fruity nose. Low carbonation. Thick, chewy, syrupy texture. Sugary and fruity hops with big notes of pine. Sweetness, overall, is a bit much, but not distracting. Some of its bitterness combats it well. Interesting flavors surface but I wouldn't call it overly complex. Overall, it was kind of like caramel-dipped pine needles, and I liked that flavor.

A light caramel aroma. Beautiful color. This has a strong bite of both hops and alcohol up front, with some caramel that grows in it. Smooth and good.

This is a thick malty barleywine - sweet, caramel, burnt toast; a great combination of malt flavors here. It’s all balanced by a generous hopping. Finish is long, warm and mellow (with a slight acidity). Bought a couple of bottles to try at a later date.