Great Lakes Barley Wine

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Cleveland, Ohio USA

Murky brown. Odd strange aroma. Bitter and lingering astringent metalic. Not smooth. Not very good.

Final rating from my trip up the this year’s Winter Warmer Festival. Solid beer, but nothing really stood out for me. Golden copper pour, creamy head, and little lace. Inviting aroma of plain cereal, honey, and fresh fruits. Medium bodied, sort of easy for a barley wine. Very sweet, malty taste. Snappy with a fresh fruit quality. Enjoyable but not memorable....I’m off for another glass of the Chophouse’s Bourbon Barrel Barleywine!

Aroma of dates wafts out of the glass. Nice flavor, classic hops, thick mouthfeel. Light alcohol burn on the finish; I don’t believe them that this is only 10%. Could use some time to mellow.

Served in a snifter glass at the brewery. Clear dark copper pour with a generous frothy head. Nice grapefruit and pine nose with caramel in the background. Sweet caramel and marshmallow show up first in the flavor and they support a hefty citrus (grapefruit) and strong pine hop presence. A bit fruity with orange flavors that is does get just a touch cloying. Full bodied and sticky with a semi-dry finish. A solid American barley wine.

Nothing really "wrong" with this, but not all that great. Not much of a nose to this, but looks the part. Smooth and not much going on. Could have a few before you realize this is a barley wine. It is pretty good, but not representitve of the style.

20080329 Blind tasting notes and score from Cornboy 2nd annual Barleywine Extravaganza. Pissy hops, grassy and tropical, pale color, BO notes, overall mild and underwhelming malts.

Shared at the pre-DLD ’08 party. Some syrupy malts at work here. This doesn’t seem that old, but it’s already lost its hop profile. I’ve had astonishing stuff from Great Lakes, but this isn’t one of them. Keep trying.

Poured FAR too cold at the brewpub. It seemed to be an absolute age cupping it in my hands to warm it up. Pours flat with a miniscule ring of foam. Golden sunset orange. Diabetically sweet aromas of sugary stickiness. Flavors are underwhelming with a disjointed hodgepodge of alcohol fire, lip-smacking sugars, raisin, honey, and green leafy hops. I wanted to like it, I really did. But there was nothing there to warrant a second snifter...and I always order up multiple full-size samples during our yearly baseball Opening Day get-together.