Iron Hill Barleywine

Brewed by Iron Hill Newark
Style: Barley Wine
Newark, Delaware USA

750ml Bottle; Shared at the first, semi-annual Ratebeer-Tucson tasting!
Pours with a thin, frothy, amber-tinged, tan colored head that sits on top of a clear, rich amber colored beer. The aroma has a dank, cheesy note to it that mixes with an herbal and citrus driven hop character that are ultimately drowned out by the funkiness. A touch of caramel malt character struggles to come through the funk aromatics as well.

Cheesy notes continue in the flavor, though they are a touch more muted than in the aroma there is still a really rustic, challengingly, funky French-farmhouse cheese funkiness here that reminds me of really rank toe-cheese. The herbal and citrus hop notes are more noticeable than they were in the aroma and the flavor is slightly better than the aroma was too. Bitter hop notes mix with light phenolics as they meld together in the finish. This would definitely be a nice beer without the obvious infection. It is still exceedingly hoppy and the chewy malt would have been nice if not drowned out by the cheesy funk.

a nice amber color with no real head. but this bad boy seems a bit infected. just a little off. a little better as it warms but justoff. a bit funky.

Tap at Lancaster location. Hazy amber beer with a thin head. Aroma is lightly sweet and a little bit honeyish as well. Toasty and toffeeish with some apricot/peach. Sweety and quite chewy. Fruity sweet and a little bit orangey. Sweet and a little bit herbal on the back. Fuggles/Goldings aroma. Quite a rich tasty barleywine in the UK-style.

Growler from egajdzis, Thanks Eric. Dark amber color. Good carbonation. Growler filled to the brim. Mild aroma with malt. Heavy body. Sweet. Tastes good, but young. Needs some age. I bet the barrel aged version of this is awesome.

Tap at Wilmington location, called Old Tom. Cloudy orange color. Aroma was very slanted towards fruit (dates, candied apricots, pears),. Was sweet with some toffee and brown sugar. A little bit of tang in the texture. Not a lot of hop character,. Really liked the taste..

Draft at Phoenixville location...Caramel colored, cloudy and dark with a small beige head...aromas of sweet malts and a touch of caramel, some vanilla and alcohol as well...thick mouth feel...sticky and creamy....the initial sip is sweet then alcohol dominates the palate, followed by a figgy date taste and a slight hop finish a pretty bland barley as far as complexity goes....andouie sausage goes well with this

Tap at P-ville location. Pours a nice deep amber with a lively carbonaion for a BW, nice lasting tan head. Aroma is lots of thcik sweet caramel and toffee malts, and nice fruity esters- dried apricots, and raisins plums. Good big malt flavor- smooth sweet, not cloying, but big and robust, toffee, hints of earth and leather with a very subtle hopping character all the way through. Good long smooth finish. Went down real easy as well.

"Old Tom" On tap at the Wilimington Brewery: Amber in color. Good lacing, and an ok head. Aroma was weak smell of dried fruit. Flavor was smooth! Sweet dried fruits. Texture was medium light, no carbonation. Over all pretty enjoyable but not as good as their sasquatch!