Number 25 tasted out of a 28 bottle BW tasting. Poured a clear copper color with almost no head. Doughy aroma, light vinager, sweet toasted malt and mild alcohol. The flavor was a mix of malt, tart fruit, and mild hops. Light to medium bodied.

Draft at the Quimby St. venue. Aroma of dark malt with citrus hop. Hazy brown amber color with a dissipating white head. Flavor is pruny dark fruit with bitter hop. Quite a nice barley wine. Clean finish. Good sipper.

1999 vintage at the Lucky Lab barleywine fest. I won’t use this score due to the wild turn this brew took while aging. This 5 year old version turned very acidic and winey, almost vinigar and sour finish. This 2003 vintage barleywine pours a dark mahogany, very clear, with a thin white head. The aroma sets this beer up to be a big ol sweet barleywine, lots of brown sugar, caramel, prune, and hints of chocolate in the aroma. The taste wasn’t nearly as big on the sweet side as I was expecting, sweet up front but finishing quickly bitter with a long tail of bitter hops fading into the distance. Still a very nice barleywine that will probably continue to improve greatly with age.

20080329 Blind tasting notes and score from Cornboy 2nd annual Barleywine Extravaganza. Citrus fruit hops, sweet, chuckles candy, light tartness, and then I cannot read the rest of my notes...

2002’s. Over 100 IBU with a complexity derrived from aging nicely. This one was quite sweet—a sweetness that hinted toward the use of candy suger, but could have been from the massive amount of ingredients, namely hops.