Pisgah Hellbender Barley Wine

Brewed by Pisgah Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Black Mountain, North Carolina USA

sample on Nov 6, 2008. pours a deep red with a small white head. aromas of fresh piney hops... medium to full smooth body with a nice bitter presence. this one was fresh and the hops really shined. a great american english barley wine mixture.

750 mL (the only size bottle) Appearance: Cloudy caramel-toffee brown with abundant antique-white, foamy, frothy head. Looks like carbonated madeira! Aroma: A nose that tells a story! Toffee, caramel, vanilla, Old Library, hay, hop resin, violin rosin, dark chocolate, madeira. Taste: A bit tangy and sharp, perhaps -- but this bottle is still in its infancy! This incipient sharpness leads into a smorgasbord of vinous delights. Lots of caramel, toffee, hop, and vanilla, with a sweet finish. Palate: As the brew is still young, it’s a bit hot, but a nice spritz on the tongue and throat. Overall: Well-nuanced, well-balanced, really and truly excellent. I imagine this beer (I got two bottles just for this reason) will be stellar in a year or two. Good by itself, but I can imagine this next to creme brulee, dark chocolate, roasted almonds, or a pipe! And kudos on the percentage donation to keeping the endangered Hellbender salamander in our midst. Who says organic beer’s no good? This stuff is tip-top.

Bottle shared at the 6th Cellar Reduction. Near clear dark purple with reddish highlights and some small floating particulate, and decent white head with fair lacing. Terrific plum, mild alcohol, rum soaked fruits, cherries, candied malt. Very excellent job of hiding the abv. Great label and name. Great barlywine.

draught. Hellbender is a rich ruby color with a thick white head. I wasn’t really expecting the fullness of the hops. They were quite nice and foresty over the rich caramel and berry notes. Nicely aromatic brew. There’s a great balance of pine, citrus, caramel, juicy berries, a bit of wood and barley all of which culminates to finish dry and slightly puckering. Very nice!

Bottle dated April ’08. Opaque ruby pour with a dense white head and good lace. Rich dark fruit aroma with molasses, sharp pine and wet oak. The flavor follows through from the aroma with a sweet honey finish. Sticky, medium-full body with soft carbonation.

2008 corked and wired bomber. Pours hazy dark copper colored. Hiighly carbonated with a large, long lasting, frothy, tan head. Aroma is very much in the English style with relatively low hops and lots of bready, doughy malts, caramel, dark fruits, and syrupy alcohol. I can easily see this evolving to the tropical fruity aromas and flavors of the aged 2006 version. Flavor is malty with some sweet molasses and fruit character but balances quite dry and a little hot yet. Full bodied and very smooth with full, soft carbonation and deep warmth. Overall, an excellent example of an English barleywine. Bottle-conditioned, it should age very well.

april 2008 bottle thanks to KP. deep chocolate brown pour with a nice cream rocky hard. malty, raisins and dried fruits on the nose. very easy on the palate with flavors of fruits and sugar. very smooth finish that hides the alcohol quite well.

Date: March 31, 2006
Mode: Draft
Source: Barley’s, NC
Vintage: 2006
Appearance: clear dark amber, thin beige head
Aroma: sweet fruit aroma, lots of sweet fruits
Flavor: rich fruity flavor with just the right amont of sweetness, great chatacter
Overall: an excellent english barley wine right out of the gate

Date: April 11, 2008
Mode: draft
Source: barley’s
Vintage: 2008
Score: 3.8 to 4.0
Appearance: clear dark red, fine beige head, scattered drippy lace
Aroma: light sweet dark caramel aroma with a lot of fruity character
Body: creamy body
Flavor: rich dark caramel flavor, lots of fruity character, brown sugar sweetness, just enough sweetness from the dark caramel to bring out the fruityness, just enough earthy bitterness for balance
Overall: best batch yet, this will be tremendous with additional age

Date: May 24, 2008
Mode: bottle
Source: cellar party
Vintage: 2008
Score: 3.6
Aroma: more fruity character coming through on the aroma
Flavor: more earthyness in the flavor cuting back on the fruityness, long bitter finish
Overall: bottle especially needs age

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 4/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ***+/4