Pizza Port Bombshell Barleywine

Had on cask at pizzaport-----this pours a hazy golden hue with a small off-white head. Aromas of fresh hops, pine, caramel, and a little brwon sugar. The flavor is amazing...almost more like a good double IPA with a fresh hops flavor. I will have to try on tap, because on cask, my ratings are beyond most.

Draught at Pizza Port (Carlsbad), California.
Clear light amber colored body, fine off-white head. Sweet aroma, malty and caramelly with fruit notes. Full in the flavor that is mostly sweet malty and caramelly with some hoppy notes in the finish. Soft and smooth mouthfull and a nice barley wine.

Cascadey grapefruit perfume aggressively spicing up the fruit salad underneath…A few orange zest shavings float on the trim body and are bolded by a crisp alcohol nibble…A hop-accented barley wine which is drinkable enough to be had by the pint…

This barley wine pours with a deep amber body topped by a medium thick head with a good amount of lacing. The aromais sweet and malty with a nice grapefruity hop note and hints of caramel and a fruity note. The flavor is slightly sweet and malty laced with fruity hop notes, some caramel, a touch of alcohol and fruit. Full bodied, relatively smooth and slightly warming.

Had this in the company of the great Beerguy101 at PizzaPort Carlsbad from tap. It pours a nice orangey anger hue with a slight foamy white head but damn did that sucker last a long time leaving a slight bit of lacing around the glass. The aroma was all woodiness and pineyness with some heavy acetic qualities and a hint of woody brush and caramel malts. The taste begins and ends very syrupy with a bitter hop mid-taste and finish. The finish is highly acetic telling me this beer needed a hell of a lot more time to develop. I think this would be one kick ass barleywine if they let the damn thing age a year or so. It was still definitely very raw. There was quite a hint of alcohol in the finish, though like I said, none in the nose which was cool. There’s a touch of caramel sweetness in mid-taste and the finish which does help round out this brew but this is a horribly raw brew. Seriously alcohol presence, high IBU content and it just finished poorly. Give this a year and we’ll be back to rate it!

(Draft: Pizza Port in Carlsbad, CA) Not a huge barleywine, being a bit more subdued than many others in the style; Nicely balanced, hoppy and sweet with a nice maltiness and pleasant fruity flavor early on; It finishes with a big hoppy push and a bit of grapefruit; Alcohol is pretty well kept at bay; Fairly heavy palate, but not cloying; Pale amber in color; Sweet, hoppy nose is kinda fruity; Off white head is bubbly and fades fast, but the large bubbles along the edge retain well and leave a fair amount of patchy lacing<HR>Rerated on 20-Sep-04 (Draft: Pizza Port in Carlsbad, CA) The nose is moderately sweet, malty, alcohol, light hops, so smells like a typical barleywine is on the way, but it is markedly different than the flavor; It's sweet and mildly malty, yes, but also quite hoppy and bitter for a well balanced barleywine; What's distinctive here is the strong orage citrus flavor along with orange peel and grapefruit notes, especially in the finish; Bitter hops cuts into the thick palate, so it's crisp and clean, not cloying; Light amber in color; One of the few barleywines I can remember with a thick, dense head exhibiting good retention; Leaves a thin, but solid coat of lacing; My description is different for the two tastings, but the ratings were identical, despite being done independently of one another

This barleywine looks really nice with a very vibrant orange/gold color with a nice white small head and great lacing. Aroma is alcohol intermingled nicely with malt and a crisp hop bite. Flavor is highly alcoholic with the malt and hop sublties overshadowed but the alcohol. Body is nice and rich with a long bitter finish. A decent beer.

gabf'03 Poured a deep bronze but no distinguishable aroma. No overwhelming character in flavor - balanced by malt, citrus and spices. This is lacking a certain, que, je ne sais pas?!?