Green Flash Barleywine

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

Bottle. 22oz. I must have been intoxicated last night. I’m rating from some tiny, barely legible, and dizzyingly random notes written on a post-it and stuck to the empty bottle. For the sake of my need to re-evaluate this rating in the future I am going to decipher them as best I can. At least I put the numbers on the paper. The bottle says "Vintage" and has a notch in the label which I assume is a dating system but I’ll be damned if I can figure out how it works. Pours a dark red amber with a big ole beige head. Aroma is of tart grape juice, grapefruit, orange rind, some sweet malts, and Tang powdered beverage. Flavor is moderately to highly sweet with a high bitterness. Sticky with little carbonation in the mouth. Finish is bitter as hell with lingering, forever, floral and resinous hops and I like these ones whatever they is (direct quote from the post-it that time). Every sip I get a blast of powdery Tang. (another one) This is one helluva a beer.

dark copper/amber color with and frothy tan head. Aroma is heavy on alcohol (scary) and sweet toffee maltiness. I think I might be doomed. However, the flavor is quite redemptive. Tons of creamy malts, toffee, vanilla, citrus hops. There is some noticeable alcohol burn but it plays well with the other flavors. Very similar to Great divide old ruffian, or maybe it’s avery’s hog heaven. it’s one of those. the bottle says "vintage" on it but no year.

Like the IPA it is very sticky and an appealing barleywine for hop heads. How is this a barleywine as it seems to lack the malty quality and seems more on the Ruination end of things with a heavy Simcoe-like touch here? The resin and pine needle aspects are especially strong and I suppose the caramel malt backbone here is a bit more pronounced than their IPA. There is some vanilla and molasses there but the hops blow the loudest horns. I would love to blind taste test this with their IPA as their Imperial IPA seems quite mellow compared to the two. Bottle from State Line in Elkton, MD for $4.99.

Private tasting
Slightly hazy vibrant amber colour. Rich, sticky head. Resiny nose with lime, papaya, sticky hops and brown sugar. Rich malts with toffee notes, lots of alcohol muscle and long, chewy, resiny hops that stretch out halfway to forever. A burly, young, somewhat raw but tasty example.

Nice brownish rust color with a light tan head. Caramel, chocolate, raisin, and dough notes in flavor and aroma. Nice lightly hoppy finish. Nice beer.

Celebrating my 18th anniversary with my "company" with this 22 oz’er ... It pours a nice muddy, ruddy orange-tinged rust color with a solid unsurrendering tan foam top. Nice light and ruity aroma which still manages to hint at the alcohol-laced monster within. As I drink, I am impressed with a nice blend of rich flavors ... toffee, homemade fruit bread, caramel, and a leafy bitter topping. Quite delicious. (#3052, 8/8/2007)

Bottle from ckbschubert. Or IrishBoy, depending on who you ask. Had this in a blind tasting against Southern Tier Back Burner and Great Divide Old Ruffian. This won. Pours with a fantastic, firm head for a barleywine. Mellow, boozy, tequila and whiskey notes in the aroma. Very little alcohol burn. Slightly chewy rye in the flavor, big and bold but refined. Chocolate malt and caramel. Very tasty, but not world class.

Pours a cranberry brown, with glorious bubbles foaming into a thick, buttery-brown frothy head. Lots of lacing. Smells of over ripe oranges, tangy, brown sugar, yeast. Taste is pleasant, rich, full of malt, toffee, caramel, and more ripe oranges and sun-burnt raisins. Aftertaste burns a little from the 10% alcohol