Flat Earth Winter Warlock

Brewed by Flat Earth Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
St. Paul, Minnesota USA

Is, as pledged, quite gold, wispy white head. Nose quite sweet, bit of alcohol in it, a mite strong. Flavor is sweet, quite grainy, but not particularly unpleasantly so; up the grain flavor just a bit and give it to me in a blind tasting, and I’d have guessed European Strong Lager. Still, alcohol is well-masked, quite drinkable, pleasantly sweet. While its label says it’s an English-style barleywine, I don’t really get that vibe; I tend to expect butterscotch, toffee, caramel, things like that. Here, I get alcohol and sugars, yet they play well enough together that they’re not offensive. Not bad, rather enjoyedit.

Into my Flat Earth snifter you go, Winter Warlock....the name and occasion is apt, as I thought last week, when we spent time in summery sun and basked in 60-degree weather, and the melting snow slipped out the sins of winter, that spring was finally here, at last. I was the fool, and the magician who rules the weather made a mockery of my delight...we’re back at winter again, for awhile, and it’s warlock now rules us. Aw, well... on to investigate this ale.You are golden, sorcerer, with a quickly gone head... your aroma is mostly rich, sweet, boozy malt...I’m not feeling much more from it. Taste: more slick, more sweet, more malt, more booze...not exactly what I expect from the barleywines I enjoy most, and have historically found to my favor, but it is quite nice in it’s own regard. Lacks the hops of many of those, and leans heavily on the malt...something about that dynamic takes it somewhere else, indeed. Golden, bright, crisp, and, yes, boozy...the 9 % isn’t shy at all. Not that I’m complaining.I think Jeff Williamson has a thing for Fantasy/Sci-Fi/sword & sorcery,Tolkien, mythology, etc...not that I’ve played Dungeons & Dragons with him, but I bet if you played craps at his house, the dice would be twelve-sided. Sweetness is just right for a dessert or a nightcap, and the alcoholic warmth is well-needed in chilly evening (okay, mornings) as this... ’tis a fine ale...works nice, tonight ...another winner from Flat Earth.

[Bottle] The first time I had this beer, it was at a tasting where two bottles straight from the brewery were tried. One was apparently ok, the one that I had was just a grainy mess. I assumed that I had a bad bottle and didn’t rate it. I recently had this again though, and once again it was a grainy mess in both the aroma and taste. It poured clear orange with a small cream head. Medium mouthfeel with a decent finish. A very one-dimensional, rather unpleasant beer.

Golden, honey yellow with fair white head that quickly dissipates. Aroma is toasted caramel. Flavor is toasted caramel and yeast . Definite malty flavors. Body is medium with fair carbonation.

Bottle. Golden yellow color, somewhat bubbly. Minimal head. Big somewhat toasty dry biscuity malt presence. Has a bit of sweetness to it, as well as some dry fruit notes. Nice little bit of hops toward the end to help dry it up. Medium bodied. A hint of alcohol and spice on the palate. Somewhat sticky. Pretty decent beer.

Thanks to xmarcnolanx for sharing this barley wine. Pours golden with a small white head. The aroma is thick and rich with a pale-ish malt along with clover honey, light spice and breadiness. Medium / full body that is crisp at first then gets quite sticky on the finish along with some stinging carbonation. The flavor starts off with very cereal-like malt, pepperiness, light hops and some pepperiness. The finish is quite alcoholic and on the plasticy side. Okay beer.

22 oz. bottle purchased at Blue Max in Burnsville, Minnesota. I drank this at a tailgate before the Twins - Royals game. Pour is a hazzy copper-golden with not much of a dirty white head. Aroma of sweet caramel maltiness and some bright fruit - apples and pears. Taste is big on the sweetness, certainly caramel, hint of honey - not quite cloying but certainly headed in that direction. The fruit appears in the taste, but is far more muted than in the nose. Hop bitterness to the finish, and quite a bit of boozy heat. Overall tasted unrefined, young and boozy. It was nice on a cold night.

Poured cloudy golden with no head. Aroma - faint fruity maybe apple. Thick and sticky sweet with notes of yeast and honey. Some bitterness on the finish. Reminds me of Capital’s Blonde Doppelbock. I have enjoyed the other offerings from Flat Earth, but this one is really not to my taste.