Ølfabrikken Gæstebryg #1 - Mikes Barleywine

Formerly brewed at Bryggeriet Ølfabrikken (Gourmetbryggeriet)
Style: American Strong Ale
Roskilde, Denmark

Dark copper with a purple tint and a huge, tan head. A wonderfully balanced nose with plenty of toffee, pine, brown sugar, grapefruit, whole grains, lemon zest, strawberries, residual malt and a hint of subtle smoke. Maybe just a little light in the mouth, but the drinkability is superb for the style. The carbonation is soft and texture is velvety and smooth. Much like the nose, the flavor profile is quite balanced. This is what I want my Barley Wines to taste like: complex, layered malts joined elegantly by juicy hops and lightly warming alcohol. The balance is the key, as all elements were added with a heavy hand here. It’s good plenty of flavor and bitterness from the hops whilst maintaining sweetness and depth in malt flavors. Very tasty.

Dark color; gian thick head. The aroma is malty and fruity (sweet oranges, light apricots, some old hops; excellent. Good mouthfeel, malt, loads of caramel, quite sweet, with a strong resiny bitterness, making of it an Ale closer to an American than a classic Barley Wine. The final has too much caramel and shorter bitterness than expected. Overall, perfumy but with too much caramel.
Thanks Jørgen for trading this bottle, which was in excellent conditions despite the BBE.

(on tap, last keg, sponsored by Sahlholt, cheers, mate and did I look drunk going home?)Funny, dry and cardboarded aroma, above the malts and figs. Maybe it was OK that this was the last keg? anyway, a very well balanced beer in all. Really good balance between hops and malts and alcohol. Has wood, fudge, a hint of pine and loads of alcohol as strong points. Last keg dudes, sorry :)

Bottled. Hazy nut brown, firm, lively head. Rich orangey aroma. Sweet and lightly soapy with notes of syrup and orange liqueur. Warming bitter finish. The swetness takes over and distracts from the good flavours.

Bottle @ OMH-tasting
Big white head. Very rich hop aroma, but slightly phenolic. Big bitterness with a sweetness well hidden. Alcohol content is well hidden. Sweet aftertaste.

Huge offwhite head. Strange and kind of sour floral hopbased nose. Full body. Taste starts with a nice sweetness but after a short time the sweetness is forced out by a rather intense hop. The long and hoppy finish genereates a smooth warming feeling but luckily never tastes of alcohol.

At first the aroma seems lightly sour but that is quickly replaced by brown sugar, leafy tobacco, citrus and herbal hops and a pleasant jolt of alcohol. Cloudy brown body is topped by a low but lasting white head that recedes eventually to partial cover. Lime citrus and floral hop flavours with strong and lasting bitterness. Malt character is very dry and well attenuated with some notes of alcohol. Medium body with strong carbonation and fair alcohol warming. Bottle? sampled at DenverLogan’s GABF 2005 wrap-up. Thanks, Christian!

Sampled at Oakes’ ’05 Xmas Party
Muddy brown color, light whisps of head and lacing. Nose of sweet and crisp fruity hops; earthy and pleasant after a while. A bit “off” in the flavor with stick and bark taking on new meanings to the word “woody”. Cute balanced finish with a little sweetness overpowering the hop bitterness.