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Four Peaks Hopsquatch Barleywine 3.66 50

Four Peaks Hopsquatch Barleywine


Percentile
94
overall

bottling
unknown

on tap
available

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RatingsAverageScoreSeasonalABVStyle PctlServe in
503.77/5.03.66/5.0Special11.5%72.6Snifter
Commercial Description:
What is it? Barleywines are super strength beers that have their roots in old England. They are comparable to Ports or Sherry in their sweet flavor and high potency. Ours is more of an American style in that it has been infused with massive amounts of hops. How was it made so strong? Lots of malt. In other words, lots of food for yeast. More yeast food equals more alcohol. When there is so much alcohol though, the beer needs time fore those flavors to mellow out. So we aged Hopsquatch for one year in stainless. This long aging period also allowed some of the harsh bitter flavor from the hops to buffer out and blend with all of the other flavors. This creates a fine, full flavored, very complex ale. What’s with the name? Traditionally barleywines have colorful names like, Monster, Old Nick, Sudden Death, Old Knucklehead, Old Fart, etc. Ours is no different. When we brewed it we had these metaphorical visions of a twelve foot tall hop-covered beast lurking in the cellar for a year. No body believed us, so like the legend of Bigfoot, Hopsquatch was born… That, and it sounds funny. What’s with the "Pimp-Chalice" glassware? See the above description (Hat tip to all the brewers on this one).
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 ajm (967), Los Angeles, California, USA
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/104/56/104/514/20
Dec 7, 2008  
Tap at Brewery. This is one of those beers that is right on the border between styles, like Hvedegoop. This one is so hopped and not malted enough to balance it that it comes off as a darker Imperial IPA. Sort of a tart syrupy hop effect like a Dogfish IIPA. I would order it again only for the glass. Some aging in another vessel besides stainless would help a lot IMO.


 BOLTZ7555 (1121), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/105/58/104/516/20
Dec 7, 2008  
On tap at Scottsdale pub. Incredible meringue head that rises high above a fiery burnt orange body. Delicate lacing left its mark all over the inside of the glass. Extremely hoppy for the style. Grapefruit, orange peel, and lemon zest balanced by caramel malt, honey, and brown sugar. Thin for a barley wine, which I like. Not at all syrupy. Very good brew...probably the best Ive had that was made in AZ.


 Sparky27 (1642), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/104/515/20
Dec 5, 2008  
On tap at the Scottsdale location. Pours a cloudy amber with a HUGE cream colored head and nice lacing. Nose is citrus hops and malt. Taste is lots of tart citrus hops and some sweet caramel malt. Comes off more like a DIPA than a barleywine, which is cool with me. Medium creamy mouth feel. Good stuff.


 nbutler11 (773), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
3.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/57/103/514/20
Nov 20, 2008  
Pours a warm ornage color from the tap at the brewery with a large tan head that leaves pleanty of lacing. They serve it in a bizarre glass that I’ve never seen before, but it seems to capture the aroma well, which smells of sweet red apples and orange rind. A bit sour for a barley wine in my opinion.


 JorisPPattyn (5193), Antwerpen, Belgium
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/56/103/514/20
Apr 24, 2008  
’06 Vintage Good yellow head on orange-golden beer. Very hoppy (USA) nose, cookies and quite some malts. Hopoil, hopcookies or -cake, diverse dried fruits (mango, fig, peach). Burning MF, quite aggressive and harming the balance. OK, maybe enjoyable, but not really great.


 SuperDave70 (1158), Beautiful Sunny Mesa, Arizona, USA
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/57/104/515/20
Feb 17, 2008  
Sampled at the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild 2008 Strong Beer Fest, on February 17, at the Mesa Amphitheatre.


 1FastSTi (2591), Glendale, Wisconsin, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/105/57/104/515/20
Oct 25, 2007  
Scottsdale location. Pours to a very viscous, slowly settling, dark hazy amber body with a tall creamy, foamy off-white head with nice retention and lacing. The aroma is sweet barley, toffee, caramel, and bright citrus grapefruit hops punch through. Very smooth drinking at 11.5%. Sweet but not too bitter. The beer was very drinkable.


 BeerandBlues2 (3237), Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
3.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/105/56/103/513/20
Oct 19, 2007  
GABF ’07. Pours hazy tawny with a large, frothy, light brown head, lasting with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (cookie, caramel, nutty), heavy hops (perfume, pine, resin), average yeast (sweat, earth) with notes of alcohol and peach. Full bodied, alcoholic texture, lively carbonation, and a bitter finish. Average duration, light sweetness, moderate acidity and bitterness.



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