Pike Old Bawdy Barley Wine

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

Luminescent bright amber appearance. Chewy, earthy...and big. The usual brown sugars, earthy hops and chewy caramels. Decently made, archetypal barley wine. Damnit, I waited 15 years for this!

Splendid aroma of alcolhol, fruit, floral hop, and malt. The overall effect is of fermenting fruit. Beautiful orange tinged amber color. White head that didn’t last. Medium body, very light carbonation. A bit chewy. The alcohol is definitely present, some toffee, stone fruit (something like brandied fruit with the alcohol) sweetness. The main and saving feature is that each sip provides a burst of fruit. The finish is fairly dry, and there does seem to be some of that advertised smokey undertone. There is even enough bitter to overcome the residual sweetness.

Pours a clear golden bronze with a wispy-lacing white head. Aroma of lightly citrusy grapefruity hops with a touch of earthy toasty pale malt. Body starts with decent viscosity and mild caramel sweetness with lots of earthy grapefruity bittering hops. Could use a little more balance, but a decent barleywine.

2008 release; Sampled December 2008
A solid pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces almost two-fingers of frothy, tan colored foam. The beer is reddish amber color that shows a lightly hazed, orange / red tinged copper color when held up to the light and shows bubbles from the light carbonation struggling to rise up through this viscous brew. The aroma is sticky with residual malt sweetness, ample caramelized malt and some resinous, citrus focused hop character. Ample biscuit-like malt, whole grain cracker notes, touches of toffee, concentrated sweet tea and caramelized malt sugars play the leading role while hop notes of tangelo, touches of lychee, some pine needle notes and grapefruit take a secondary, supporting, but definitely quite noticeable role.

This beer is definitely thick and chewy; it has a viscous heft to it that allows it to stick to the palate initially, but a biting, ample, almost abrasive bitterness balances this out by scrubbing the palate clean of the sticky malt. The bitterness really lingers on the tongue for quite some time after a sip. The bitterness actually has a bit of green, hop astringency to it that makes it all that much more gripping. The crystal malt character contributes quite a bit to the flavor, but does not overwhelm or get too cloying; it does accentuate some citrus flavors from the hops though (grapefruit and orange zest). I like the clean, sweet, yet not cloying, lightly toasty, biscuit leaning malt character that this beer has up front.

Clearly this beer was meant to be aged, I like it fresh and aggressive though. It is quite smooth at the front of each sip with the sweet malt and citrus hop notes, but then the aggressive, scathing hop bitterness comes riding in and obliterates almost everything in its path. There is not a whole lot of complexity to this beer right now, but I have a feeling that it will pick up more of this as it mellows and ages for a couple years; I am not sure I will like it better that way though. There is only one way to find out.

Pours a dark copper with a small off-white head. Aroma is almost like a Hair of the Dog beer with it’s cake-like malt aromas. Brown sugar, maple syrup, butterscotch, balanced by a bitter pine. Taste is a mix of the same sweet malt taste, but even more grapefruit hops, almost kinda soapy in a way. Finishes lightly hot with the flavor of burnt hops. Bitterness lays on the throat forever. Full mouthfeel, albeit a little slick. Nice malt flavors and aromas, but the hops seem too separate, and I don’t like what they do in this beer. Worth trying.

Pours a cloudy dark brown, with a small off white head. Smells of typical barley wine notes, lots of caramel and bready yeast, hops, and dark fruits. The flavor was also typical barley wine characters, with alot of the same flavors as in the nose. Lightly sweet and stingy from the alcohol on the palate, but not a monster. Light hop bitterness is apparent in the finish and lingering aftertaste. Just another run of the mill decent barley wine for me.

Deep ruby pour with minimal head. A dusty, figgy flavor coupled with a light bittering finish and an alcohol warming presence. A little on the caramel fruitiness which gives a slight puckering sweetness. Good brew, better for bedtime.

Bottle shared by footbalm. Pours a cloudy amber with a tiny head. The aroma was sweet apple cider and candies. The taste was very smooth, full of caramel, some dark fruit, a touch of brown sugar, toasted malts, not much of a Scotch presence, but good nevertheless.