Middle Ages Druid Fluid

Brewed by Middle Ages Brewing
Style: Barley Wine
Syracuse, New York USA

Pours with a one-finger white head that fades quickly leaving some lace. Cloudy amber color. Good carbonation. Nose is a sweet floral. Medium bodied. Starts with an excellent mix of hops and malt, very warming the alcohol is noticeable. Some hop aftertaste. $3.55 for a 12oz bottle from Olivers Beverage Cen. Albany, NY.

Vintage 2001,thanks Eyedrinkale. Dark amber colored slight haze, tan head riims the glass. Aroma is sweet like rotting peaches, with underlining nutty flavor and twigs. Flavor is much more tart than I expected after taken in the sweet aroma. New this has got to be a fairly bitter beer. Aged it is pretty tame. Dry finish.

I had never heard of this until I saw at the store today. Aroma has a brief hint of alcohol first, then the hops and fruity undertones set in. The aroma is a sign of things to come as the flavor hits you briefly with alcohol, then the hops set in. Not much in the way of maltiness to speak of, however, while it’s hoppy, it’s not overbearing like a Bigfoot or Old Crustacean. The carbonation is low, little lacing and a non-existent head.

The beer arrived in a nicely adorned 12 oz. light brown bottle with foil around the neck and over the cap. The body was a lovely shade of copper and poured out very clear, so the beer did not appear to be bottle conditioned. The carbonation was very light, and the head was barely there. The however was a good deal of lacing around the sides of the glass. The aroma was enticingly spicy alcohol that begged me to take a sip. Underneath the rollicking spiciness, I could also detect a good deal of grapefruit character of the hops. The taste was very fusel alcoholic, with heavy dose of grapefruit followed by buttery diacetyl. The resinous hops were also lurking in the back to wipe my mouth bone dry. Thick syrupy mouthfeel detracts a bit from drinkability. This beer feels a lot stronger than 9.5% ABV. I need to put some age on this girl to smooth out the rough edges that she shows at a pre pubescent stage. May be she will turn into a ravishing beauty.

Update

This 2004 bottle had bed sitting in my cellar for nearly two years since it appeared on the shelves in Georgia shortly after the law changed. At that time I thought this was an unspectacular and overly hot barleywine. It was time to see if time had been kind to this beer.

Cracked open the 12 oz. bottle after lifting off the gold foil that had pretty much separated itself from the neck by now. The resulting beer was nicely carbonated, one finger head being evidence of this, and a little pale for a barleywine, coming in at a shade orange amber and with a clear body. The thick sheet of lacing on the sides of the oversized wine glass was also not typical of a barleywine.

While the looks bordered on a DIPA, the smell was nothing of the kind. The herbal hops were still amazingly evident, but the primary aroma was that of sweet malts, reminding me of a fruit cocktail from a can. The taste was also sweet, but not at all cloying. The individual fruit flavors were hard to pick out now, and the hops added a spicy edge. Alcohol was more evident than beers of this age, but not in a hot flashy way. This was quite a bit easier to drink than I remember from couple of years ago. I would not consider this a stunning barleywine, but it did taste quite good with some creamy Danish blue cheese.

6/29/04 Bottle: Deep orange color with a small head that very quickly reduces to the very smallest of rings around the outside of the glass. I’m starting this one off just a little too cold and letting it warm to see how it changes. Aroma starts out with a bit of black pepper, pine, caramel, cloves, raisins, and when swirled it releases a bit of dark, unsweetened chocolate and cinnamon. Initial taste is quite sweet and then very quickly bitter. If I had to guess, I’d say my bottle was relatively young for this barelywine. Still very hoppy, bitter, hints of orange, pepper, cheese, and caramel. Finishes smooth and dry, with some dark (chocolate? black?) malt flavors really shining through. Very nicely balanced, this is a barely wine that I think would age very nicely. 1/28/05 @ Old Toad, Rochester, NY: On cask, 1 year old vintage. Wow, this is superb on cask, particularly after a year. The medium amount of spicy hops have toned down a bit, leaving a well balanced treat. It also manages to stick a balance between being sticky/syrupy & bitter/dry. I think this is a keeper for aging. Will re-rate again when my 1st bottle hits the 1 year mark.

Caramel, toffee, honey malt (M); herb hops (L); peaches. Hazy amber brown body. Heavily sweet, lightly acidic flavor becomes a moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter, lightly alcoholic finish. Medium body, creamy/oily texture, soft carbonation. The bottom line is: quite tasty for a little micro barleywine.

This one starts out with a really annoying perfumey aroma, it is very spicy, pungent and vinous, but in a good way in that respect. Hazy deep amberish orange, with a light ring of foam. Lots of fruit and sugars, a great BW aroma, full of apricots and peaches. Interesting flavor at first, almost like a very pungent cheesy taste, and the aroma changes into an almost eucalyptus hand lotion smell once it warms. Then it really starts to show its alchohol and becomes slightly buttery towards the finish, with alot of other complex flavors, candi, caramel, slat water toffee, coffee beans and coconut. Truly not a bad BW, I would love to see how this one ages.

Orange gold color. Medium head. Aroma is fruity and sweet, touches of orange, banana and clove. A medium to full bodied barley wine. Malts are fruity and sweet. Hops are grapefruity and piney. Nicely balanced. Very smooth taste. Very little alcohol presence. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is smooth and dry. Aftertaste is slightly sweet. Nice beer. Thanks again Dr Bill