Green Flash Barleywine

Brewed by Green Flash Brewing Co.
Style: Barley Wine
Vista, California USA

Deep amber red color with thin white head. Strong hoppy and malty aroma. Sweet candy maltiness followed by Intense piney hopiness. Alcohol is well masked.

A 22oz bottle of San Diego Barleywine, I hope its good. This one has a decent head on it and a dark reddish brown body. The taste is slightly fruity, alcoholic, and delicious. As it warms up, it begins to smell a little like caramel (and maybe chocolate), which is nice. I can definitely taste the hops in this. I also taste a faint hint of chocolate. The first glass went a little too fast but it just keeps getting better the more it warms up. The alcohol will catch up with you if you aren’t careful. Maybe you are smart enough to share this bottle with a friend, but I wasn’t. I was a little afraid after my experience with the Imperial IPA but this one was well worth the purchase price. I am definitely buying more to see what another six months to a year will do. -update 11/14/07 2006 vintage So I decided to crack one of these since it is almost been a year since I purchased these bottles. The first smell is perfume and hops, weird and reminds me of an aged Ruffian I had a couple weeks ago. The flavors are like a bitter orange rind. The more I think about it this beer seems like a Ruffian copycat and it would be interesting to have a blind taste-off. This is different than it was fresh and I am not sure i like it aged. I still have five more bottles so maybe this one will improve in the next year or so. -05/03/08 2006 vintage Dark, ruby red, almost brown, with a thin but soap-like head. Subtle smells of citrus and toffee, chocolates, a little alcohol. More citrus in the flavor followed by a cereal-like barley flavor and flowery notes with a little bitterness. The only complaint I have is that it gets too easy to drink as it warms. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 02-16-2007 01:16:11 --2nd anniversary 22oz bottle that poured a murky browinsh red with scant bubbles. It smelled caramel. Friend said it tasted like "nuts in his mouth" which I promptly mocked him for. Nice caramel, toffeee flavors, serious bitterness from hops. Good beer and has aged nicely and would probably hold up for quite some time. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 01-21-2008 02:52:29

22 oz bottle dated 2008 poured into a snifter has a brown amber color and a thin off white head. aroma has dark malt, brown sugar, big pine hops, citrus. mouth feel is medium with a nice fullness and light carbonation. flavor is extremely smooth, great malted base with hops layer on top that erase any alcohol. juicy grapefruit and citrus come across but the malt is right behind it. as it warmed it became more chewy and bitterness picked up. very enjoyable with a nice fresh green taste.

Rich and complex - lots of heavy, dark fruit with a big molasses sweetness that creates a smooth, soft mouthfeel with a big hop component. Toffee and figs are dominante with some light brown sugar notes along with pear and apple. Really nice.

Bottle at home with mesandsim. Aroma is a big bold malty beast, theres loads of hops, but at lost under the huge malt character. Taste is similar, with quite a bit of noteable alcohol, just packed with caramalt.

bottle from spuyten duyvil brooklyn- nose is freshly picked hops from the start. pours brown red, cloudy, loads of lacing, tan head. beautiful looking bear. nose is citrus, vinous, brown sugar, apple donuts, thick toffee, beautiful nose. mouthfeel is thick and fluffy, and heavy. like syrup. taste starts off very sweet and toffee caramel loaded, but than continues swiftly into a field of hops with citrus overtones, incredibly flavourful. and represents the category quite well i think.

Sample from a 22 oz. bottle shared by shigadeyo. Pours a hazy dark brownish copper color with a medium sized off white head. This bottle had at least a year on it, maybe two so I will re-rate a fresh bottle at some point. The aroma was balanced between the caramel malt and the hops which favored citrus and pine. The flavor did have moderate hop bitterness, but leaned a bit more toward the caramel malt. Full bodied and a decent barleywine overall.

22 oz. bottle...pours happy high head which gradually disappears, nice copper color, some lacing...nose rather mild, pleasant hops, with some minor floral and pine...tastes of malts, a bit of sweet, perhaps toffee, with a bitter finish. It has a good mouth feel. Rather mild for the style, with not quite enough malt and hop layers, but very nicely balanced and a pleasant brew.