Mendocino Talon Barley Wine

Brewed by Mendocino Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Hopland, California USA

22 oz bomber: lasting off white head on a hazy coppery brown body. Aroma starts out with herbal hop, slightly solventy alcohol, and a malty sweetness. Some toasty malt below the alcohol, and a bit of caramel. Surprisingly low fruitiness, but alcohol masks some aromas like brown sugar sweetness. A bit resiny in the flavor to start out with, and a bit of alcohol flavor. Balanced to bitter at the start, finishes dry. Some raisiny fruit flavors. Caramel is moderate, but overall malty flavors are low. Very resiny, astringent m/f. Higher alcohol a bit burning. Fuller body. Too much alcohol going on to be fully enjoyable as it masks some of what might be more subtle complexities.

I wanted a big, sweet beer that wasn’t worth that much to me. I almost had a Double Bastard since I still have 18 bottles, but I chose this instead. First impression is that it tastes like the Harvey’s Christmas Ale that almost opened instead. Rotten fig like aroma. I love this style. I little spice in there also. Not very complex. Appearance is a very nice bronze/brown with a nice white with brown tint head. Flavor is solid. It’s a little like Brown Shugga also. Taste is a little like brown sugar in fact. I’m struggling to come up with a description of the flavor. There’s a little apricot with the brown sugar, and a lot of alcahol, but not as much as expected after reading the reviews below. It’s pretty sweet with a dry, cardboard finish. The alcohol presence is welcome in this rainy, cold weather. Not as bad as expected.

Attractive reddish amber color with a well retained beige colored head. Aroma is sweet, malty, sticy, with just a dash of hoppiness. Sweet flavor, almost too much, but just treading the line, nice aged quality, caramel. Pretty tasty.

Bottle. Pours ruddy medium brown and slightly hazy with virtually no head. Aroma is sweet and syrupy with lots of alcohol, some citrus, brown sugar, apricot and oak. Flavor is also sweet like just over-ripe pears with allspice, cinnamon, lemon and alcohol. This actually strikes me as a bit mediciney as the large alcohol presence is a bit overpowering. Full body, very smooth and almost no noticible carbonation.

4/7/05. Sampled with friends at Stuffed Sandwich in San Gabriel, CA 4/7/05. Dark, brown-orange color, somewhat hazy. Light tan head that lays in a thin sheet. Sandy but fast and uneven lacing. Lightly vine-like, somewhat grapey nose. Spicy grapefruit too. Strange malt. A bit resinous and darkly sugary, some nutshells. A strange, toasted bready spiced flavor that isn’t special but gives it some character. Big alcohol and not good balance. Medium-full body but a sharp prickly bite. Not much of interest outside of the nose. Dry finish that somehow leaves a malty cardboard taste lining the mouth. Way too much alcohol presence. Not a good one.

Pours a dark red color with a tan head. Decent lacing. Yummy aromas of fruit, crystal malt and piney hops. Fruit punch-like malty flavors that turn nice and dry on the finish. Not over the top, but certainly a tasty brew and a decent interpretation of the style.

04.15.05 Bomber purchased at Whole Foods SF. Typical dark copper pour with little head and minimal lacing. Aroma is harshly boozy, reduced apricot syrup, brown sugar--it’s a safe smelling beer, but not a standout so far. Body is full, coating, but also cleansing as some hops try to muscle in. Unfortunately, the hops get smacked down by a serious dose of the sweetness. This brew is really sweet, sugary, and thick. Some spice lingers from alcohol and hints of yeast, but the sugars are too dominant. Alcohol pervades retronasally. Kind of a bummer of a beer, to me, because many reviews were quite favorable.

Beautiful burnished wood color with a well-sustained, though fat bubbled head. Aroma is caramelized ginger, some density, cystallized sugar that hints at concentration but just misses, and a grassy hop like Warrior. Very dense, rich malt flavors with complementary, spicy alcohol. A big, bready malt and citrus infused caramel. A good beer but it is not commiting enough to be an American barleywine and not malt complex enough to be an English barleywine.