Legend Barleywine

Brewed by Legend Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Richmond, Virginia USA

Dark red color with particals floating in it. Smell of malt, spice, pumpkin, prunes and little alcohol. Tastes very sweet with alcohol, spice, nuts, prunes, some hops and a heavy creamy chocolate??? Bitterness at the end of this wonderful barley wine. WOW! If I knew this was that good I would have bought more in Virgina.

Thanks Kingpin, sorry I didn’t leave you more but this was good stuff. big malty Hersheys chocolate,maple aroma, darker than most barleys, huge chocolate ,vanilla, cookie type of taste, all that flavor and yet there was still a thinness to the body, so much chocolate,so little fruity ester,I had to check twice to make sure this wasn’t an Imperial Stout,didn’t notice that 11.5% at all, great brew

On tap at the brewpub -- Hazy dark amber color with a large creamy off-white head. Sweet caramel aroma with hints of molassas. Sweet caramel flavor and very easy to drink.

At Legend Brewing -- I have to say, give this brew (2006 brew) six to twelve months and it will be awesome. Great mahogony body with a small tan head. Nice fruity aroma, malt backbone is evident. Good body, smooth palate, hops and alcohol dominate. Semi-dry ending. This beer has a lot of potential.

22 oz. Bottle. 2006 vintage. Pretty decent barleywine. For 11.5% there isn’t much of an alcohol taste. Smooth finish.

Bottle 2006... Hazy, orange ale with a small, creamy, khaki head. Good retention. The perfumey nose offers additional notes of caramel, light smoke and wet leather. Rich, malty-medicinal flavor of caramel and cough syrup with lots of alcohol and hop bitterness. Full-bodied and sticky with medium carbonation. Finishes sweet, then heavily bitter and "red hot" with alcohol. Wow, this is a powerful brew... almost too much so. Set one of these aside for a year or two and let’s see what happens.

2006 vintage. A sticky, syrupy mess of a barleywine. I can’t understand any reference to balance with regard to this offering. The extreme alcohol sits right up front on the nose like the stink of Aristocrat vodka. Just below the fog of alcohol lies a flat aroma of stale tobacco and sweet brandied prunes. Prunes and raisins dominate the palate with dark brown sugar, spent tea leaves, cherry, and leather trailing in the midpalate. The finish lacks inspiration with just barely a whisper hop bitterness to speak of and hyper-saturated sugars building potency with each sip. Once again, out of balance.

Great barleywine. Aroma of dark fruits, slight alcohol presence and a hint of hops. Taste is much of the same. The alcohol is slightly present in the taste, but is otherwise disguised very well.