Mad River John Barleycorn

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

Not a huge barley wine fan, but this one is nice and smooth. The hops really does a nice job balancing out the heavy fruit malt

Bottle. Dark amber colour with a beige head. Aroma is alcohol, licorice, hop, dried fruits. Flavour is alcohol, hop, licorice, dried fruits. Full bodied nice beer.

Celebrating the Harvest 2007

1/06/2009: John Barleycorn Barleywine Ale... Aroma: Caramel and toffee maltiness accompanied by equally large floral and sticky resin and citrus hoppiness. Appearance: Caramel color with a thin, off-white veil that doesn’t last long. Flavor: Sweet cherries and caramel matliness with some brown sugar at first; moderate hoppiness and bitterness blended into and nicely balanced with the maltiness; alcohol explodes when the beer is warmer though; a leafy hoppiness is also more apparent when warmer, very herbal as well. Palate: Medium-bodied; very smooth and lightly creamy, mellow. Overall: Soild; better than expected; 1-2 years has really helped this beer cool down!

12 fl. oz. bottle (twist-off cap; 10.8% Alcohol by Volume) from Tmoney99. Thanks Tom! Rating #354 for this beer.

2008 bottle. Pours a deep dark red-amber with small head which settles to rim. Aroma is subdued brown sugar and caramel. Flavor is fairly one dimensional sweet malt with a bite of hops in the finish, high carbonation present. Nothing spectacular, but drinkable

12oz 2008 bottle. Pours a clear, amber red-orange body with a thin, light brown head that dissipates quickly and leaves a light amount of lacing. Aroma of sweet cherries and lots of toasted toffees. Some sugary, piney citrus hops and even some chocolate. Similar flavor. Lots of toasted toffees, some dark cherries, and citrus with a light piney finish. Some molasses and raisin bread as well. Lots of sweet caramels and toasted toffees in the aftertaste with a light warming booze. Palate is medium to full, rich and smooth, and slightly dry and sticky. Overall, a sweet barley wine without as much intense hop flavor as I tend to like. More malty/toffee based, but this did get better as it warmed.

12oz bottle. dark brown pour with a smallish off-white head. sweet malts and caramel in the aroma. taste of dark fruits, caramel, molasses and alcohol. good tacky bitter finish.

2006 bottle. 9.5% abv. Pours a murky reddish brown with almost no head. Aroma is initially lemony bitterness and moves to oxidized light sweet malt. Flavor is toffee, raisin, a bit of roasted malt, and a good dose of citric bitterness. Some oxidation is present as well. It, surprisingly, came together to balance itself out fairly well. Palate is average but somewhat flat. Better than I remember when I had it on tap several years ago.

2007 12 oz bottle Pours Camel gold with slight red hue and no head. Sweet malts, dried fruit and cereal grains on the nose. Candi sugar and sweet malts with a great hop finish and nice acidity to balance the sweetness. Overall I approve.