Le Cheval Blanc Barley Wine

This is their 20th anniversary ale. It immediately displays a mostly lasting, though diminishing off-white head atop its medium brown, very cloudy pour. The yeastiness might be its most unusual feature, being quite bready and rather fruity at once. That is not to say that the other ingredients do not take their proper place: the malts are thick and highly fruity, deploying highly biscuity flavours in the shape of social tea cookies and toffee paired with a potent fruitiness whose deployment is only enhanced by the hops. They are Simcoe and Chinook mostly apparently and propose blueberry, strawberry as well as blackberry hints together with their unsurprising citric proportions. While it appears quite chalky in the finish, it seemed quite balanced beforehand. Soft to medium carbonation, medium bodied. A well executed big ale.

My Bottom Line:
Sweet strawberries and hop resins coalesce in this chewy and raw Barley Wine. Yeast esters and crystal malts are well positioned within these dominant flavors and a talented celebratory strong ale emerges.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam tops the cloudy copper.
-The resinous and leafy hop bitterness is scrumptious; not too intense, but never too frail either.
-A subtle alcohol bite follows the delicate caramel malt flavors.
-Carbonation is comfortable and fits the healthy body.
-This was aged 10 months before release, which was a wise decision. I think they could serve this another 10 months from now and it would still be very enjoyable (and probably more cohesive).

On tap at the brewpub. Merci Éloi!

A nice copper ale with a thin white head. Aroma is slightly vinous, caramelly and alcohol. In mouth, a sweetish malty barley wine with light herbal British hops, but very short in mouth, with lightly oily mouthfeel. More like an IPA. Overall, not bad but not very assertive. On tap at BP, Dec. 8 2007, with probstk.

Bottles (341ml). At Le Cheval Blanc, massive round of bottles and pints provided by the most generous Goldorak. Okay, my notes are minimal from this (and the next) rating, it was very dark in there and we were getting tired - but I remember this beer. A fairly cloudy pour, amber or something, small head. The aroma was like a fruit schnapps, incredibly sweet, boozy, some light floral bitterness. The taste was syrupy, alcoholic, more bitterness than I expected (like marigolds) - this was boozy, but still enough bitterness from the hops that I could taste them even sitting next to the Ladies restroom (no, I don’t know what that means either). Thin, sugary mouthfeel, the primary characteristic I was left with was candied fruit, alcohol, and sharp acidic bitterness. I think the bottle was upwards of 1 year old at time of tasting - interesting!

The pour reveals a hazy brownish amber color with a thin white head. Good aroma of strawberries, caramel and mild hops. Pleasant flavor of strawberries, caramel, there’s a strong hops presence with a bitter and astringent finish. The body is light to medium with a liquorous texture and gentle carbonation.