Heavyweight Old Salty

Formerly brewed at Heavyweight Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Ocean Township, New Jersey USA

2004 edition. Dark cloudy brown with an inch and a half tannish brown head. Sweet succulant malty aromas: lots of passionfruit in there as well. Whoa, what a kick. Flavor is heavily alcoholed... damn strong, but just what I need right now =) A little too heavy to have on a regular basis, but a damn tasty switch-off.

Vertical tasting of 2000-2003 Vintages; Tasted January 30, 2005: I started with the ’03 and worked backwards. 2003: Pours a muddy brown/red color with no head. Bready aroma with alcohol and perhaps some prunes. Pretty raw alcoholic kick up front with a heap of barley for the taste. Raisin? 2002: Same color, but with a thin head. The alcohol fades and some salt comes out to play in the flavor. 2001: Somehow the alcohol came back and brought with it some soy sauce. 2000: Now some corriander and celery are making appearances. I’d say overall I liked the ’02 best, but I’m not sure if it was a vintage or age thing. Worth hanging on to for a year or two.

2003 bottle. Pours dark amber with a small tan head. Aromas of malt and dark fruits and not much hops for the style. Flavor much of the same with some plums and figs. Hop bitterness mostly in the finish. Balance a little to the malty side for my liking, but still a very decent Barleywine.

2003. initially, my first thought is that I expect more from Heavyweight. The color is light brown with ruby accents. The head is noticeably devoid and almost entirely absent. Nose is totally analytical, possessing strong hints of grapes which definately continues onwards upon tasting. Hints of caramel, toffee and apple are also clear in the nose but it is entirely too simple and straight forward in the aroma. The flavor is very light bodied and the texture is lacking, yet the flavor, like most barley wines, is pretty enjoyable. Malt accented with hints of caramel and dark fruits (grapes especially). I was hoping for much more.

A very nice overall barleywine. Pours deep amber with a slight off white head. Aroma is a good balance between crystal malt and lots of herbal/earthy and somewhat floral hops. A little bit of spice also in the nose. Flavor is sweet with caramel, hints of chcolate, raisins and some roasty nut flavors. Smooth finish and good bittering to balance out the malt.

Promise of a good brew with barley, roastiness, chocolate malts. Very nice dark appearance. But the second Heavyweight I have had, and I am underwhelmed by the sourness, and in this case heavy saltiness.. Ok in aftertaste. Needs more malty taste to cover up. Or some other good taste. Thanks Lubiere for sending.

2004 bottle. A minor gusher; pours dark cloudy brown with a huge beige head. It took about 10 minutes to pour. Aroma of caramel, aged malt and floral hops. Whoah, malty and syrupy sweet as hell. Taste has very strong notes of caramel, dark fruit, pineapple, toffee, molasses/brown sugar, chocolate and a ton of hops. Bitter, toasty, alcohol finish with a fresh chocolate chip cookie aftertaste. Cloyingly sweet, I couldn’t finish even half of this. Perhaps it’s a bit young, this needs time to mellow and mature. It’s still complex with a lot of flavors going on. Mouthfeel is very full but the carbonation is so prickly and bubbly that it really takes away from the overall drinking experience. Good head retention. I’d like to see how this tastes after a year or two.

Bottle: Hazy amber with a small light brown head. Thick and sweet aromas that show just a bit of floral and citrus hops. Most of what comes through in the nose is a salty, bitter malt with some bread and dough. Taste is slick, with medium amounts of carbonation. There’s hints of citrus, orange, and pine hops, with a syrupy sweet malt & toasted grains background. Finishes somewhat dry with mild hops and light biscuit malts.