 JoeMcPhee (3815), Jackson Heights, New York, USA
May 14, 2008
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.
beerbill (1321), Laurel, New York, USA
Sep 14, 2008 I purchased this bottle at the Newark, DE location, but the label on the bottle says Wilmington. 750 ml bottle. Pours a hazy dark amber with glowing reddish highlights when held against a light. Moderate-large off-white head that faded to a film at mid-glass and left only a trace of lace. Very pleasant aroma of caramel and a bit of sweet orange. The flavor backs off a bit from the aroma, with caramel up front and a moderate alcohol flavor towards the finish. The alcohol flavor stregthens as the beer warms, and a definite alcohol burn develops as well. This is a decent barley wine, but it lacks the depth and mouthfeel I associate with better barley wines. The strong alcohol finish also detracts from the flavor.
adrian910ss (1032), philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Aug 18, 2008 750 ml bottle. Pours a murky orange brown with a medium sized beige head. Aroma of caramel, candied sugar and toffee. Taste of lightly sweetened caramel, candied sugar and citrus hops. Very nice.
cbkschubert (1611), Rattlesnake Country, Arizona, USA
Jul 12, 2008 750 ml bottle via trade with hopdog - Pours a reddish-amber color with a thin off white head. Faint spotty lacing. It went South from here. I think the bottle was infected. Flavor was phenolic and bitter. Too bad. I was sitting on this bottle for quite some time and was looking forward to sharing it. Oh well, maybe I can get another bottle. Thanks Steve.
FlacoAlto (2142), Tucson, Arizona, USA
Jun 23, 2008 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.
highibus (271), Vail, Arizona, USA
Jun 21, 2008 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.
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