Pike Old Bawdy Barley Wine

Brewed by Pike Pub & Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Seattle, Washington USA

Bottle, Pours a clear bright copper with a dense but fading off-white head. Mild and sweet aroma of fruit, peat, citrus. Thick and chewy, with light carbonation. The taste starts sweet, oranges, toffee, brown sugar. Lots of bitter grapefruit pith on the tail end. In a year or two this is gonna be great.

Pours a murky, muddled orange color. Very little head at all. Aroma is very sweet and malty. Some hints of burnt orange zest, and an odd earthy note that reminds me of sage (?). Flavor is mild at the start, and then exponentially grows stronger and more brutish. The malts are pushed away by a balancing, yet bracing bitterness. I typically prefer an English style barley wine, but this one seems to have hooked me in.

2006, consumed at just over 1 year of age. Pours a cloudy orange with a creamy but quickly and mostly dissipating off-white head. Mild peat and orange marmalade top a sturdy grain bill. Yeast is still pretty evident, alcohol of medium stature. Powdered sugar is a dominant trait, interesting but smothering. Vanilla that was only hinted at in the nose is much stronger in the first sip, trailed closely by mild to medium hoppy bitterness and pleasant malt sweetness, all before sugariness returns. Citrus is strong and lightly quenching as well as syrupy and dense. The finish is of orange glazed powdered sugars and lignering bitterness, drying signifigantly and leaving a lingering friut pith taste behind. The mouthfeel is creamy, medium-full bodied and somewhat smooth. This is very drinkable but awfully sugary for a barleywine, or any cold-weather drink. I feel the headache coming on soon.

pour is cloudy orange-amber, little to no head, no lacing. smell is sweet, malty, fruit, touch of vanilla, some citrus. taste is some fruit, some citrus, touch of caramel, leaves the mouth on the dry side. overall not as strong as the typical barley wine, good and a little hoppy.

12 oz bottle, 2006 vintage. Pours a murky bronze with no head. Sweet aroma of malt, fruit, and alcohol. Flavor is sweet and rich, but not overbearing like many barleywines. As the description states, I can detect that smoky undertone, which adds a nice touch. Creamy mouthfeel with a long bitter finish that sits on the back of your tongue. You can also feel the subtle alcohol warmth...this is a great Barleywine!

<b>Regular</b> version.2006 bottle sampled Jan 1 2009. Pours flat with almost no head, a clear syrupy golden amber in color. Strong aroma of caramel barleywine, some citrus. Relatively dry flavor, especially in the finish, given the aroma; lots of caramel tones but these are quickly subsumed by an almost spicy dryness swept along with lots of grapefruit pith. Decent but but neither subtle nor exceptional in any other way. 7/3/7/4/14=3.5

<b>Oak aged</b> version (’06) on cask at Brouwers Bigwood fest ’07.

Comes from the hand-pump caramel red with an exceptionally long-lived head but modest lacing. Nice, nice, nice! What a well-balanced barley wine. Good fruity nose, scotch and earth, hops present with assurance but not overpowering. The flavor too has a strong but not-too-strong hop presence, leading us into the territory of hoppier barleywines but never overdoing it, not sweet in the least - in fact, surprisingly dry - but complex fruits and again that earthy, peaty sense of scotch whiskey atop mild caramel tones. Modest mouthfeel, not thin but not over-the-top creamy.

I drank this one side-by-side with Fred from the Wood, and though Fred was the better beer, this one didn’t fall back into the shadows at all. Rather, it held its own for interest! I’m very impressed with that, and I’m glad to have a few bottles in the cellar; give it a few years and wow.

2006 vintage. 12 oz brown bottle. Served in a brandy snifter. Hazy orange/gold. Not a lot of carbonation, quickly dissipating head. Citrusy hop aroma, a little malt and a hint of alcohol. Definitely more on the malty side but not overly sweet. Hop bitterness and aroma may have faded a bit. Long dry hoppy finish. Warming. Maybe a little oxidized, but in a good way. Decent balance of malt and hops, but I’d like to try this a little fresher.

2006 bottle given to me by Charles Finkel during a visit to Pike Brewery this past summer. This poured out a hazy amber, on the lighter end of the barley wine spectrum, with a small, but lasting white head. Very hop dominated aroma with citrus leading the pack, and some lighter honey notes in the background. Medium/full body, lightly carbonated, resinous, and somewhat chewy. As in the aroma, the flavor is heavily weighted toward the hop side with grapefruit bitterness barely giving the lighter malty backbone a chance, and leading into a long bitter finish. Very enjoyable.