Fish Tale Leviathan Barleywine (Batch 5+)

Brewed by Fish Brewing Company/Leavenworth Beers
Style: Barley Wine
Olympia, Washington USA

Aroma is very astringent/alcohol-filled with only hints of the sweet, candied fruits I remember from the barrled-aged type. Dark, ruby-yet-brownish body, with a very small head. The flavor is very woody yet slighty sweet. Fairly well-hopped, but it is unbalanced: again, too astringent, the sweetness and bitterness are competing with each other rather than complimenting this one.

This beer seriously suffers by not being aged in wine barrels - dark copper color with lasting lace - alcohol and light fruity esters in the aroma, with a hint of toffee/caramel - medium bodied, and a little thin flavored for the style - astringent alcohol overshadows the fruit esters and malts - some smoke way in the background tries to make things interesting, but falls short - ends with kind of stale hops - I think we’re all in agreement; bring back the barrels!

Thin quickly reducing head leaves a wisp of foam on the surface. Better carbonation that I expected from a barleywine. Head reforms nicely upon swirling. Lots of chunky floaters in there. Rich and malty aroma with dried fruit, caramel, toffee and a good helping of hops round out the aroma. Cloudy dark amber/brown in color. Thick sweet and alcoholic. YUMMY. Little bit of roasted grains in there and a hint of smoke to go with the absurd level of malt in this monster. Chewey and coating. More caramel and toffee with a surprising lively mouthfeel. Something is just a little off in this one though. Carbonation is holding up in this one. Finish is creamy and warming with a little bitterness. A very good barleywine. Thanks to matta for this one.

Batch No. 5 * 2004: Cranberry orange. Puffy collar of ivory foam holds well. Plums, clean alcohol, tobacco, and woody malt invade the nose. Soft, fuzzy carbonation. Initially juicy and fruity with slick esters. Sharp alcohol, tannins, and cedary malt tones soon overcompensate with a brisk sting, though. Alcohol warms the innards as it goes down. Rather than lending balance to the hops, an assertive punch of glazed malt sweetness exaggerates the overt rigidness. Brashly medicinal and leathery, as well. Quite dull on the palate, as cardboard/oxidation has begun to rear its ugly face. Lacks hop brightness, but the juicy esters somewhat make up for it. Hop profile slowly becomes dirtier and coarser, as a spruce- and alcohol-fueled dryness pave the way for finishing notes of clingy medicine and lightly caramelized malts. Man, bring back the Cab Franc barrels. This just isn’t cutting it.

Batch #5, 2004. 12 oz bottle. Pours amber and clear with light carbonation and a whispy white head. The aroma has tons of fruit! I noted peach, strawberry, cherry, port wine, brandy and heavy oak. Very nice. My extreme excitement ended, unfortunately, after I had a taste. While not bad, it was a big let down from the aroma. First of all it was over powered by strong wood flavors (oak). There was also some harsh brandy, honey, caramel hints and a light sweetness as this brew approached 65 degrees. Creamy, syrupy body that has a medium mouth feel but is initially watery. Finish is more solid. Seems like the barrel aging did wonders for this brew (by all reports), too bad this is what it has become.

Pours medium ruby in color. Aroma is thick and syrupy with some roasted malts and a touch of hops. Thick rich flavor of lightly roasted malts, along with some dark fruit flavors. Alcohol is very well hidden.

batch #5(2004) from JCapriotti. Pours a red amber color with a minimal off white head. Very sweet and caramel nose. some bubbles here and there meandering towards the surface. light nuts and malty notes as well. Thick malty flavor with lots of sweetness. vinousy, finishes smooth and thick.

Musky looking crimson tinted brown color. Thin, non-withstanding head. A thread thin collar is left behind and delicate dotting lace is sparcely strewn about the glass. Aroma is thick and rich with a big beefy maltyness. Good amount of caramel richness lightly giving way to a bit more of a dryish toffee and molasses. Alcoholic overlay is evidently present and easy to take in. Taste is solidly built upon the stilts of caramel, teetering with some toffee dryness, some graham chacker crusts, and slight wavering nuttyness. A slender and slight lean into some chocolate smurfs in just before the beefy return of forwarding malty thickness with a small hit of the alcohol begins its lovely, easy going finish. Quite nice. Mellowing and smooth the whole way through. Feel is nearly perfect for a barleywine. So smooth and malty rich with just the right nudge of alcohol. Lightly warming with a slender medium body and a good load of caramel lead the way as it soothes over the palate just begging to be drank - more and more so. A damn good drinker. Nice stuff.