Mill Street Barley Wine

Brewed by Mill St. Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Toronto, Canada

500ml Ceramic Bottle (Very nice bottle at that) 10% a/v - 2007 Edition Bottle opens with a satisfying pop, the beer just cant WAIT to get into my stomach :-). Pours a clear copper / red tea colour with a decent tan head. Very sweet aroma with a very fruity, caramel and as dkazuk said, almost bubblegum tinge. The flavour is very alcoholic and sweet malts with a hint at dark toffee and mild fruit. The mouthfeel is very rich and creamy and the final aftertaste is largely a sweet and warming alcohol with minor spice notes. Not bad at all, though I think I may buy a few to let sit for awhile.

500ml white ceramic bottle.
2007 Vintage.
Opens with a pop and pours a clear copper brown with a nice creamy head. Aroma is strongly sweet with hints of bubblegum, pine, caramel, and some wood. Alcohol is also very present. Flavour is alcoholic and malty with some feint dark fruityness. Medium feeling, creamy body. Finishes with dry alcohol. Not amazing but perhaps my second one will even out with a year or so behind it.
2007 Vintage 1 year aged
Bitter hoppy aroma with some very syrupy raisins below and keeping that pine note. Syrupy sweet flavour with wood, hops and some alcohol. The flavours have definably mellowed and are less sharp more uniform. More enjoyable and drinkable after some age.

2007 ceramicy bottle, 500mL. Aroma is quite nice, a bit of caramel maltiness with some fruitiness as well. Pours a clear brown, with a bit of head. Flavour starts out complex and fruity, moves to a spiciness, and then has a long, more malty, bitter finish. Interesting progression. Overall quite nice, but a bit too spicy and strong to be a casual beer.

2007 version. Neat looking quasey ceramic bottle. This is my first barley wine ever, so I have no idea what to expect. I was going to age this, but um, I have neither the know-how nor the patience. Pours a really nice deep copperish amber colour, with a small beige head. Aroma: barley? I guess? Wine? Ok ok, in all seriousness, very sweet, almost like cream soda, with a hint of piney hops. Taste: Strange (to me), very powerful, yet, not so powerful? What? I’m not even sure what I mean by that. Um, indistinct barley malts, followed by some hop bite, then alcohol. But for some reason the alcohol isn’t all that warming. Something weird in the aftertaste, probably alcohol. I don’t get it. I guess I should have aged it. Damn, I blew it. It’s not that bad though, so I’ll still give it a fair rating. You should probably just ignore this rating, as I have incredibly limited knowledge of this style. Or maybe this isn’t a great example of a barley wine. I wouldn’t call this, "drinkable". I would like to know how they can justify charging about $10 for this though.....

2005 vintage, # 5968, hazy amber hue, with a beige head, falling quickly, yeasty, malty, toasty nose, with a hint of vanilla oakiness, with a biscuity malt, cookie dough accent, with some figgy, datey, fruity notes, with a brown sugar, toffeeish aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a yeasty, toasty, caramelized malt character, with a sweet cookie dough, brown sugar, butterscotch accent, with some vanilla, and kind of subtle coconut sweetness, leading towards a warmth, malty, faint hop bitterness finish.

2005 bottle from Paul, not even sure when I got this. Pours out a light orange color without much of a head at all. Smell is sweet and full of fruit. Taste is sweet as well, and not really hoppy or bitter like most barley wines are. Rather bland to be honest, and when compared to the Dominion Oak Barrel Millennium, this one cannot stand up. Not something I would seek out to try again. Thanks Paul!

(Bottle 34,1 cl) Courtesy of presario. Bottle #6612, vintage 2005. Slightly hazy, warm amber golden with a nice, off-white head. Fat aroma of caramel and overripe fruit. Very rich and full body with lots of caramel and fruit - overripe fruit. The mouthfeel is soft and smooth. Some hops in the finish. 200507

From 34.1 cL bottle (no. 6612). Pours slight hazy orange with a little head. Aroma is malty with a wineous alcohol note, which takes some dried fruit with it. Flavour is cane sugar, malty, roasted, and clearly alcohol warming into a dry finish.