Mad River John Barleycorn

Brewed by Mad River Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Blue Lake, California USA

caramel, butterscotch, alcohol, sugar in the aroma. no head. very sweet, with mettalic taste. grapefruit.

brown body with no head.aroma and flavor were on the metalic side.sor of a "lipstick" flavor commning through.not really my thing.

Bottle, 2000 harvest. Dark amber and cloudy w/ light brown head disapearing to a few bubbles. Sweet malty aroma. Malty taste with tobacco and oak, slightly sweet. Nice smooth finish. High gravity with out being to boozy tasting. Not bad at all, goes right to the head, rather drinkable. *Designer note* I kind of like the packaging for this brew, a nice homey wood block illustration on natural colored label. Not flashy but stood off of the shelf amidst some of the design disasters that exist in craft brew packaging.

Draft. Reddish, dark-amber color with a nice off-white head. Sweet malt and orange aroma. Nice sweet malt and big orange and resin flavor. Full bodied. Hoppy barleywine - nothing too overwhelming, but somethign that can easily be sipped.

Pours a deep copper amber with a very quick tan head. Nose is heavy with earthy citrusy hops. There are heavy sweet notes in the nose from the malts. Flavor is actually very subdued. Thick sweet caramel maltiness with a rock solid hop bitterness. Unexpected and nice.

John Barleycorn 2001 vintage pours to a beautiful, deep caramel/ruby red color with a slight tan head that quickly fades and a soft carbonation. The nose on this beer grabs your attention as soon as you pop the cap. Very fragrant, zesty, spicy waves of Saaz hop aromas, marry with touches of citric/orange aromas, and an underpinning of sweet malt aroma. The palate is soft and fat on the tongue, with lots of big sweet and caramel malt flavors, fresh bread, and slight toffee and estery flavor. The body is big on this beer, but not too brawny as it softly glides over the tongue. This beer finishes malty up front, then ends with a very zesty, grassy, hop bite paired with a nice warming alcohol burn that lingers. This was a very unique and special barleywine. The 2001 vintage has a wonderful Saaz hop character in aroma and bitterness, coming in at a mighty 60 IBU’s. It also has a sold malt back bone, giving that big hop character some balance, and a nice wallop of alcohol strength(9% abv), makes it a warming, comforting brew. Five years of age on this beer has mellowed that intense hop character and more complex malt flavors and aromas have come out.

12 oz Vintage 2005: Mad props to TURDFERGUSON for this lovely one. Pours a clear amber, small off white head which dissipates and leaves little to no lace. Aromas of pineapple, figs, date, dark fruit, cherry, strawberry. Palate is chewy caramel malts, more fruit, grapefruit, citrus, nice body, seductive drinkability. Nice yo, nice. Thanks Sam, put your pants on and read us some poetry.

12 oz vinatge from A Southern Season in Chapel Hill NC. pours into a pretty ambered crimson body with little to no head and small white lacing. aroma of dtaes, grapfruit, and a raisins. malty flavor with a little bit of hop kick in the end. very enjoyable.