Flying Fish Big Fish

Formerly brewed at Flying Fish Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Cherry Hill, New Jersey USA

Cloudy orange-brown body, thick cream head. Big, dark yeast chunks swirled in my glass...delicious. Big bready, caramely aroma, backed by dusty esters and warming alcohol. Rather simple body, offering dry caramel and toast, spicy bitter esters, crackers, and alcohol. Not very sweet. Definitely had a brandy-like oxidized characteristic to it. Bitter finish. Smooth, good, but not great.

I bought 3 bottles from the brewery in March 2006. I had one that day. Strong hoppiness and strong ABV, but that was expected. I layed down the other 2 to age and I opened another in March 2007. It smoothed out over the year. Gained maybe a little extra percentage, but not much. I am waiting until March 2008 to crack the last one. It is much, much better aged and I highly recommend it!

Very good. It has a sweet taste and bitter finish. Very nice earthy aroma. The alcohol is felt on the throat as the beer warms. It’s very similar to Victory’s Old Horizontal.

Courtesy boboski. 2003. Glowing ruby/amber and a small, light tan head. Rich caramel/toffee, lightly spicy yeast, and bitter resinous hops that gain promenance as it warms, a light dose of cotton candy, also. Full body, balanced carbonation. Solid.

Bottle shared by Ohiodad, thanks! Dark ornage pour with a yellowed off white head. Aroma of earthy hops, a bit of citrus as well as a bit of vanilla. Flavors of citrusy-earthy hops, light caramel malt and hints of vanilla. Bitter, yet thick body with a bitter.clean finish. Pretty nice.

2003. Lightly red/orange body, brown hues at the fringes. Thin cream colored head is mostly diminishing, but the small remainder is steadfast and appears creamy. Light lacing. This is in excellent shape nearing the five year mark. Aroma is simple and focused. Notes of orange, caramel malt, vanilla, light spice and subtle alcohol are all easily discernable. Mellow hops are but a glimmer, adversarial caramel malt all but drowning them out. Toasty malts are full bodied in the nose, but don’t make an appearance until the beer has considerably warmed. Flavor is moderately malty and lightly sweet, with light-medium to medium acidity and considerable warmth from the alcohol. Hoppiness is intensifying, as is the maltiness, with signifigant warming in the glass. Finishes moderately bitter, lightly astringent and hoppy/dry. Palate is robust, with good balance and pleasing bitterness and dryness. Very good barleywine, a nice meeting of European and American styles.

Not much of an aroma, but she is a looker-- dark brown with a huge dense creamy cocoa colored head. Very malty sweet, but nicely balanced with piney hops.

Draught @ Monk’s Cafe. Darker amber color with medium head (in a tulip glass). Sweet & malty aroma with hops present in addition to some darker fruit and citrusy notes. Taste was a nicely balanced mix of piney/citrus hops mixed with smooth and sugary malts. By far the best offering from Flying Fish that I’ve had. Why don’t they make all their beers to this standard?