Nils Oscar Barley Wine

Brewed by Nils Oscar
Style: Barley Wine
Nyköping, Sweden

Pours out a clear amber with very little head. Sweet malty caramel aroma. Flavor is much the same... good, but not very complex. The mouthfeel is nice, not too syrupy. Overall this is pretty good, but not among the best barley wines I’ve had.

Pours lighter then I was expecting with an amber color and an off-white head. Aroma is sweet of caramel malts, raison, and alcohol, not much else. Flavor is of raisons and caramel the most. Finishes with some alcohol warming. Not as thick as most barley wines.

This barleywine came in a 330 ml. bottle, and when poured turned out to be quite a pale looking ale. The fizzy carbonation and clear body made me believe that this was not bottle conditioned. This has to be one of the blandest smelling barleywines out there. Deep breaths revealed a raisin like smell, but there were barely any hops at all. The taste was very sweet and a little citric. Restrained, mellow, and subtle are some adjectives that came to mind as I sipped it. I was actually quite underwhelmed at first, but the taste grew on me slowly, as I got deeper down. Some earthy, and spicy notes started to poke out towards room temperature. Unfortunately the carbonation was a bit overdone, and got more in the way than anything else. Body was sticky and enjoyably thick. A plus point was the well hidden alcohol. If you don’t mind sweetness and subtlety, this one could be worth a try, although I doubt it would make anyone’s top ten list of barleywines.

Bottle at Spuyten. Deep amber in color with no head. Caramel toffee malty vanilla aroma. Malty and light hoppy flavor. Spicy notes. Smooth tasting. Finish is sweet. Medium bodied. Drinkable.

Bottle at Spuyten Duyvil. Very pale amber beer with a thin white head. Aroma of dried apricot, honey and almonds. Soft peachiness and loads of . Fairly prominent honeyish sweetness behind loads of toffee. It’s okay, but not really the type of barleywine I go for.

Bottle from River’s Bend. Poured clear copper color with an average white frothy head that was mostly lasting with fair lacing. Moderate spicy malty and alcohol aroma. Medium body with a sticky texture. Medium sweet spicy flavor with a medium sweet finish of moderate duration. I would recommend this to a freind.

Bottle at Spuyten. Not much head at all. Aroma is vanilla, toffee and caramel. Body is creamy smooth without being over the top sticky. Caramel is all over this which ain’t bad, cause I like caramel. Sweet and lively.

Bottle. Grainy barley sweet aroma rather ordinary. Dark golden body with thin white head. Moderate sweetness with chewy bread notes. A pepper spice bitter flavor is not the best and leaves a stale wheat aftertaste on palate. Wife got me this one for christmas, she the lady.