Mendocino Talon Barley Wine

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

Bomber, brewed in Saratgoa Springs NY. No lees in bottle. Pours meaty copper red with stunning clarity. Nicely carbonated, smallish tan head. Somewhat feeble nose of grape soda and pomegranate; metallic and floral as well. Rough alcohol/paint thinner flavor accentuated by medicinal syrupy malt, piney grapefruity hops, rust, chalk dust, bitter chocolate. Body is full and slick. Finishes as harsh as battery acid. Bilious aftertaste with rubbing alcohol and phenols. Overall, tastes like it was fermented at very high temps. Just plain bad.

Pours amber with thin head. Aromas of molasses, west coast hops, alcohol. Flavor is very sweet, bitter, clings to tongue and sides of mouth. Smooth, creamy feel. Nice. Goes great with fresh homeade cookies.

Pours brown with a small head. I shared a bottle with a friend this past weekend and we both reached the same consensus: that this over hopped barley wine has not distinguishing characteristics. Very mediocre.

Poured a ruby reddish, light brown color with a medium sized, off white head that quickly dissipated leaving a lifeless ring around the edges, and no lacing. Sweet cherries, grapes and other dark fruits, sweet candy malts, and light alcohol in the aroma. Medicinal alcohol comes first to mind in the taste. Hoo wee this is like varnish! A rough one to drink.

Orange/Brown Coloring with Big Bubbled Sandy Ring/Skin. Very Noticeable Alcohol. Malty with Hops Aftertaste..Also a Piney Ending. Not Bad, but Definitly Off the Beaten Path of a Typical Barley Wine.

22 oz bottle: Clear ruby with brown hues. A decent head diminishes very quickly and doesn’t return - not even the etched glass helps…strong, crisp piney/grapefruit aroma – extraordinarily fresh hops and freshly picked grains, very nice. Flavour has a strong medicinal component – rich in alcohol and bitter lemon rinds. The palate is decently long, with malts and an interesting sourness towards the end. After such a great aroma, I was disappointed with the lack of development, the flavours just didn’t come together very well. Not bad.

Pours a clear garnet body topped by quickly dissipating, creamy beige head. Nose is full of sweet, rich malty, caramel, vinous, some raisins, molasses & brown sugar, light fruits. Taste is sweet malts and with nice toffee/caramel notes. It finishes with a nice citrusy, hoppy bite that complements the firm malt backbone. Alcohol noticeable but doesn’t smack you in the face. Smooth and full bodied. I liked this more than I figured I would.....I’ll drink this again.

Fantastic tangerine smell set me up for a small disappointment on firs,t second and third tastes (it got somewhat better thereafter). Unlike its aroma, it’s good, but not great, and the barely noticable high alcohol makes up in part for its lack of complexity.