Harpoon 100 Barrel Series #04 - Barleywine

Formerly brewed at Harpoon Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Boston, Massachusetts USA

on tap at redbones 10/28/06. a lighter amber, as opposed to a deep copper in color with a medium off white head. Aroma was very hoppy, citrus, with a good deal of sweet caramel thrown in. Taste was bitter citrus hops up front, more citrus with alot of caramel and malty sweetness. lingering bitter in the finish with a good dose of alcohol.

Bottle: Courtesy of Eyedrinkale via trade. Malty aroma of toffee, banana, caramel, fruit, and light yeastiness. Pours a transparent bright orange with a small white head that diminishes quickly. Very malty up front wtih caramel, toffee, fruit, and some sweet citrus. Finishes with a mild citrus hoppiness and a touch of alcohol.

Pours copper with a nice generous white head (surprising for a BW). Smells very hoppy with strong grapefruit, pine and grass dominating. No malt profile top speak of. Taste is hoppy and light with some caramel and toffee peaking through.

On draught at Redbones, 10/23/2005. Served a glassy, copper-to-deep-yellow color with a rapidly receding white head and no lacing. Smells quite hoppy still, lots of citrus and resin with a strong note of alcohol, some strong esters and lots of thickly packed in caramel malt. Pretty unadventurous, yet well-done aroma. Flavor is a slap in the face with bitter, resinous hops, thick, nearly syrupy caramel malt and alcohol. Warming, estery alcohols burn and fight all the way down, while the hops make me cringe on the end. Light fruitiness adds some complexity, but this stuff is pretty well an uncomplex shot of monstrous proportions of yeast, sugars and hops bittering. Good mouthfeel, low carbonation, not quite syrupy. Has a tinge of sourness on the end, and coming stronger as it warms. May just have been the alcohol interplay with the malt, but it grew more and more until it was quite unpleasant drinking by the end. Almost a bready/sourdough flavor. Sweet, monotonous caramel followed by drying, bready sourdough and alcohol, with a huge dose of bitter, resinous (but not flavorful) hops.

Pours a nice, thin gold. Thin, quickly dissipating head. Very sweet and fruity. Palate is a bit "sticky", like you can smack it around the mouth. I like this one - a nice light treat on a summer day.

Pours coppery with aroma of caramel malt, fruit, some cabernet. Tastes malty, fruity, with some hops in the finish. Not as good as I expected it to be.

Pours a light amber color. Sweet caramel aroma with flavors of molasses and fruit. Kind of light for a barley wine. Hop bitterness on finish.

Apple/pear/caramel light alcohol nose. A bit of chewable vitamin/Dimetapp wafting my way. Some sticky fructose, light amber color, sticky aftertaste, medium-heavy body. Too much burn; not enough flavor.