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Four Peaks Hopsquatch Barleywine


Percentile
94
overall

bottling
unknown

on tap
available

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RatingsAverageScoreSeasonalABVStyle PctlServe in
473.78/5.03.66/5.0Special11%72.4Snifter
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?  
 beeryum (652), Norcross, Georgia, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/516/20
Feb 17, 2006  
Draft at PP Strong Ale Fest ’05. Copper brown and hazy pour. Fairly sweet caramel malty aroma and some fuity raisin notes. Fairly hoppy. Sweet similar flavors - sweet caramel malts with some medium fruits and blanaced with a good amount of hops. Full bodied. Very good.


 scraff (1942), Baltimore, Maryland, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/517/20
Feb 3, 2006  
Draft - ABV 12%. Deep hazy coppery brown, thin creamy off-white head. Deep and complex nose of dusty molasses, caramel, fig, pine and rum raisin, with light touches of tropical fruit. Extremely well balanced for such a big brew. PNW bitter hops and sweet dark fruity tones combine to near perfection. Medium to full bodied, soft carbonation, bittersweet fruity finish. Impressed to say the least...


 goldtwins (4080), Nesconset, New York, USA
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/58/104/516/20
Dec 18, 2005  
9th Annual San Diego Strong Ale Fest: Hazy orange color. Big malt starts the aroma but quickly becomes mixed with plenty of hops. Light notes of alcohol present. Big piney hop flavor running through. Moderate bitterness that lasts for a nice length of time. Good balance. Full bodied almost syrupy.


 FoolishMortal (965), San Diego, California, USA
2.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
5/103/55/103/512/20
Dec 11, 2005  
Hazy orange amber brown with a thin film of brown head. Sweet malty and alcoholic aromatics. Husky maltiness and large dusty hop flavors. Hot alcohol finish.


 elnadeau (786), Laguna Niguel, California, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/516/20
Dec 4, 2005  
Sampled at the Pizza Port 9th Strong Ale Festival. One of the hoppiest BW examples, very piney, almost considered this to be a DUIPA at first. Good stuff.


 chilehead (186), Laguna Niguel, California, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/59/104/517/20
Dec 4, 2005  
Had this last night on draft at Pizza Port’s strong ale fest. Being a hophead, this was one of my favorites for the night. Very floral and pretty nose with clean hop notes. Flavor profile wsa almost all hops, but a nice balance of the high piney notes with the earthy flavors from medium boils. Slightly cloudy amber pour with no head. I want more!


RoundSparrow (16), Renton, Washington, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/58/104/517/20
Oct 18, 2005  
Had a batch that brewer said was 14 months in preperation... and that it is more drinkable than when it was younger. Brewer said 12% not 11%... had at a special beer event in Papago. Nice hop flavor, it is very strong but actually u can savor it. Nice in a 4oz serving.


 Rastacouere (5553), Montréal, Quebec, Canada
3.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/57/103/513/20
Oct 10, 2005  
Clear apricot, diminishing off-white head. Heavily aromatic hops dominate the nose and overwhelm the palate for that matter, hiding any trace of maltiness behind a crisp powdery veil. They carry on lemony and limey flavours that feel very juicy in mouth. Medium bodied, extremely dry, but fortunately not tart.



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