Iron Hill Sasquatch

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

Closing out the opening day of March Madness with a 750 from the Wilmington location. Poured an orangey brown color, slight murkiness to it, but nothing extreme, tons of carbonation in the pour and a head that was strongly retained during consumptions, steady flow of replentishing bubbles. The aroma was piney resinous, caramel, raisins. The flavor was strong caramel, dry dark fruits (raisins for sure), strawberries (surprised to see that exact descriptor below in a review), vanilla, and very strong pine-resinous and spicey hops. Mouthfeel was only moderate for the style, far from sticky, highly carbonated (I’d venture to even say too highly carbonated, which probably led to a more light-moderate impression than moderate-heavy). Outside of the body, this thing did indeed resemble SN Bigfoot, imo (also noted below by another reviewer).

750ML Bottle about two years old from the Wilmington brewery: Color is a dark red with a big head that faded quickly. Aroma is sweet hops. Flavor is really smooth... Nice blend of hops and malt in a barleywine. Also some dark fruits thrown in. Texture is medium, and has a small amount of carbonation. Over all a good barleywine! Thanks to B-Rob for picking this up for me!

My Bottom Line:
Humid resinous hopping and its diplomatic caramel soil are the proficient breeding ground for strawberry fruitiness and piney bitterness. This is a storyteller of a hoppy Barley Wine.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A bobbing cloud of foam covers the misty dark reddish brown which envelops the yeast microcosm.
-The body on this Barley Wine is rather slender, making you focus on its hoppy predominance.
-Frothy, big bubbles take advantage of the lean mouthfeel.
-A perfumy hop character lingers well beyond the finish.
-This may lack the residual sugars and lush caramelization to please some Barley Wine lovers.

Bottle; 2005 vintage bought at the Wilmington brewpub.

Very hoppy and malty with a lot of sweet flavors. Nice balance of roasted maltiness and floral hops. Only downfall, in my opnion would be that this was somewhat cloying.

Sampled from 750ml reserve bottle at the Iron Hill in North Wales. Poured a medium and cloudy brown color with a smaller sized off white head. Aromas of oranges, caramel, pine, and some dark fruits. Tastes of dark fruits and citrus. I liked the aromas but found the tastes to be weaker and didn’t live up to the smells. Thinner body as well.

Clear brown in color with roasted malt smell. Taste of roasted malt with some hop flavor. Thin body. an O.K beer

The aroma coming off this beer was sweet and malty with some hops in it but not much. Taste is dark fruits, and spicy with a nice alcohol burn in the finish. I liked it.

Poured a hazy, brownish red color with a medium sized, off white head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of strawberries, caramel malt, light vanilla, pine, cirus, and dark, dried fruits, and a pleasant floral hoppiness as well. Taste of sweet malts, sherry, dark fruits, spicy hops, grapefruit, and strong alcohol in the finish.