 after4ever (1696), Brier, Washington, USA
Jun 19, 2008
Draft. 2003 keg tapped June 08. Glorious little barleywine. Well, ok, not little, but a barleywine, and glorious. Pours eggplanty purple, almost black, with a dense but rather thin tannish head that falls away fairly quickly. Vinous, fruity nose--red wine, wine grapes, sherry, some sour cherry, dates, figs, the ever-popular "dark pitted tree fruit, comma, other" also makes an appearance. Dense, creamy, almost oily body. Very little carb. Just a soft note to let you know it’s there. The tight swirl of vinous and fruity notes is fairly monolithic on the mid-palate. This is a tricky one to pry apart. It doesn’t offer, really, a huge amount of complexity. It’s certainly not simple, or lacking. But it strikes only one chord--it just voices it so richly that it transforms the claim it stakes on the flavor spectrum into its own little world. It actually vanishes quickly from the back of the tongue, it just goes. But while it’s there it’s this intense little fruity, vinous tyrant.
wetherel (977), Carlsbad, California, USA
Jul 6, 2008 2003 vintage on tap at Popeye’s in Tokyo. 150mL(6oz) sampler. This was almost too much. Brown color. Alchohol apparent in the aroma Mild in flavor. Sweet, but not as much as I expected out of 15%. A little past it’s prime washing the flavors a little too much, but still pretty good.
thebeertourist (1764), Oslo, Norway
Apr 5, 2008 2003 vintage on draught at Popeye, Tokyo. dark brown colour with a small head. Vinous aroma with chocolate notes. Sour fruits flavours blending with chocolate, especially towards the finish. A joy to the taste buds.
BückDich (4525), Boise, Idaho, USA
Oct 7, 2007 Updated: Oct 8, 2007Tap @ Popeye’s: Dark brown, no head or lacing. Nose of light maple, very light alcohol for this size and a full fruit note. Light impact, sweet and fruity. Nose isn’t quite as explosive as the flavor. The finish is smooth, very smooth, but not that strong. A honey bomb.
MartinT (4307), Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Jul 26, 2007 My Bottom Line:
This Mead-come-Barley Wine successfully melds honey to caramelized port wine, finishing into a sweet prune fruitiness. Yet another wildly unique and reverend still sipper from Hakusekikan.
Further Personal Perceptions:
-This is another headless, fizzless Hakusekikan sipper when on tap, yet the generous sample received from the lagering tank at the brewery was filled with creamy carbonation.
-Its ruby brown dress and long legs along the wine glass herald some exotic sweet liqueur.
-The brewer uses a wild yeast he extracts from Kyushu honey for this one. This honeyed yeast is obvious, even in the nose.
-Alcohol definitely warms the back of the throat, but doesn’t bother the flavor profile.
-The complex fruitiness spans from grapes to dates to prunes to figs.
-Caramel flows by smoothly.
-After having this one twice on tap with little to no carbonation, and once from the lagering tank with creamy carbonation, I must say I largely preferred the carbonated version. The score atop reflects the tap version (available commercially), but had they been naturally carbonated like the one from the lagering tank, I would have given it at least 4.3.
2003 vintage on tap at Popeye’s and later at Ushitora, and 2005 vintage from the lagering tank at the brewery.
|
