Nils Oscar Barley Wine

Brewed by Nils Oscar
Style: Barley Wine
Nyköping, Sweden

Bottle from Pizza Port. Clear golden amber with a fizzy white head. Caramel and spice aroma. Bright palate. Caramel, spice, mild bitterness and some alcohol.

Bottle.50cl. Nice golden color and a very fine head. The aroma was odd, nothing like a barly wine. Taste was fine but not great.

Amber colored with no head. Liqueurish, winey and sweet malty aroma. Sweet, mildly liqueurish, toffee flavor. No Alcohol can be tasted. Medium-full-bodied, low carbonated palate.

A reasonably vigorous pour produces a scant, half-finger thick, pale, off-white colored head. The beer is a brilliantly clear, amber color that shows bright, copper highlights when held up to the light. The aroma is quite malt focused and is somewhat sweet and chewy seeming. Aromas of caramelized apples, light toffee and caramelized bread crust character make up the most dominant malt notes. There are some light herbal hop notes here as well as a touch of warm alcohol aromatics, somehow though the aroma seems quite a bit more restrained than one would expect from a beer of this strength. As my nose gets used to it this becomes more and more vegetal in character and also has a green apple note to it, while never overwhelming it is a bit disappointing.

Not overly sweet, but what malt sweetness is here is fairly rich and complex, though not overly flavorful. Again, the flavor seems light for a beer of this strength; somehow a malt richness that I would expect seems to be lacking here. There is some hop character here, though it is light, but it seems to add a bit of astringency and play up some light phenolic notes. Fruity notes of green apples, and regular apple notes, some green-grape notes. A touch of toffee up front, yields to some soft toasty, bread-like, and cracker leaning malt character towards the finish. Somewhat light for a beer of this strength, though it of course has a heft to it. The flavor is more fruity than anything, though there is some astringent hop character here.

A very interesting beer, not at all what I was expecting, and really it doesn’t seem to really work for me.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Tucson AZ

Poured a clear orange copper color with a small, bubbly, off-white head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of floral hops, light citrus, candied fruits, some caramel, honey, and alcohol. Taste of citrus fruit, orange rind, raisins, plums, honey, with light yeast, and dry alcohol in the finish. Chewy.

Pour is clear stillish golden orange with a thin white head...smell is lightly toasty with caramel and molasses...taste is sweet with lots of toffee...nice chewy mouthfeel...faint faint faint alcohol...

330 ml bottle. Dark amber. Clear. Small white head. Rich caramelly aroma. Seems really sweet. Flavourwise there is quite a bit of hop bitterness that balances the sweetness. Thick body, but feels much lighter towards the end. Lots of caramel and toffee. Powdery texture. Chocolate notes. Not really very complex, but has some interesting flavours. Watery sensation towards the end.

3-18-08 bottle.
Smei clear amber with thin white head. Smell is weak and doughy. Sweet and alcohol overpower the flavor. Watery and thin palate. Feels like a watered down Barley Wine. Highly carbonated and bland. Not good for the style.