Gold Label (formerly Whitbread)

Brewed by Samlesbury (InBev UK - InBev)
Style: Barley Wine
Preston, England

Can @ Cole’s. Good, no head. Nose is fruity, rich malt & a bunch of alcohol. Flavor is corn, malt, blah. Overly sweet finish.

Can at Cole’s in Buffalo, NY. Sweet aroma of adjuncty malts, hints of caramel and an underlying booze presence. The flavor is more of the same, maybe a touch of fruity sweetness, but really not much good is going on here. At least it’s drinkable.

can. sample @ Coles Barleywine tasting 2009. Pretty poor barleywine. but drinkable. pours light amber. aromas of sweet malts, corn. Little resemblance of a BW. corny, artifical sweetness, some booziness.

This is a brew that packs a pleasent punch. Dissapointingly it has decreased in strength over the years (why?). If memory serves me well, this was originally 10.9 - 11.1%. It is now a shadow of its former self at 8.5%. It’s a crying shame, but still a fine drink.

Canned, 330ml. After drinking this I felt like bit of a jaikey, without the stinking pish covered crotch. Then I realised how strong it was again (very strong) and had a dance to myself. Not my favourite Special Beer.

gifted by john @the tap in wim village. Aroma of burnt sugar, caramel, offish stewed fruit and roast pineapple with a ton of alcohol. mahogany in colour, little white lace. eztremely fizzy, some barley notes, but otherwise just bland and alcoholic. better smelt than drunk.

Canned(330ml). -Dark orange/amber coloured, small pale beige head, alcoholic nose. Extremely fizzy. Sweet malty and strong alcoholic with bitter finish. 8.5%ABV.

Can, shared with and courtesy of ozujsko who brought it from London (thanks!)
So my first Barley Wine is a canned InBev product....ooookaaay.... Poured a nice darker orange colour with a medium sized off white head that went away at a medium head. As fizzy as Coke. What the... And the taste is... Oh, dear. A malt liquor. Which the almost completely alcohol-driven nose confirms (it’s a bit malty as well). A good malt liquor but a malt liquor nonetheless. Malt, somewhat peachy, heavy alcohol, notes of lemon... barley wine... right. Quite a strong bitterness near the end... hopefully from hops, and it’s almost unpleasant. If not for the aftertaste, this’d be my malt liquor of choice... if I had to choose between malt liquors that is.