Port Townsend Barley Wine

Brewed by Port Townsend Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Port Townsend, Washington USA

Beautiful Barleywine, a perfect cross between the medicinal flavor of an Old Foghorn, and the citric hop sledgehammer of a Bigfoot. Head pours a generous beige. Nose is caramel, banana, fig and a little raisin, with a slight citric hoppiness. Body is slightly syrupy, but not too thick, and the palate is complex, with caramel, fig/date, mandarin orange, and tangerine, all umderpinned by a candylike (lifesaver) flavor that meshes beautifully with the Cascade hop citrus. Certainly sweet, but in a savory way, well short of cloying, despite the long finish. A winner, thanks Skip! I owew you somew more absinthe sampling for this one. Continued luck in your relatively new venture...we miss you in Bellingham!

Sour and sweet w/ hints of caramel apples on the nose, flowery and fermented fruit w/ citrusy notes in the mouth, this beer poured a reddish brown color w/ brown highlights and great head and lacing. Creamy and smooth. Nice medium body.

One of the best barleywines available in my opinion. Deep, gorgeous maroon color with a ringed head. Sweet breezy cherry aroma and a flavor euphoricaly of peach-candy. Alcohol accentuates an apricot aroma and taste. Superbly balanced, cloying sweetness and alcohol are not a problem here at all. Nearly divine. Delectable, with an enjoyable sweet finish, like the sugar residue at the bottom of an instant drink. Now available year around due to its popularity. I would definitely like to try it again.

This barley wine pours with a cloudy, deep amber body topped by a thick head with good lacing. The aroma is sweet and fruity with candy sugar notes and a ton of malt. The flavor is sweet and full of candy sugar with slight notes of fruit and a very slight bitterness. Medium bodied and smooth.

Bottle. Brownish color with little to no head. Nice malty aroma with some sherry and burnt caramel. Taste is candied sugar and sweet, toffee and light oak. Nicely maked alsohol. No burn, lightly hopped, really, really good. Addictive. Thanks HERFTYdrF (Andre) for this real gem.

Bottle pours mahogany, fairly clear, large fluffy sandy colored head, virtually no carbonation, but with sticky lacing.   Fruity aroma, some melon, along with raisin and plum.   Seems fairly sweet, with hint of alcohol.   Sweet maltiness, some nice caramel, vanilla, fig/raisin, and a soft hop presense.   If this is 10.5% ABV, its quite undetectable!   Wonderful body, smooth mouthfeel.   How could I continually pass this one up when its a damn local!   Finishes mildly sweet, raisny/figgish, with a good malt background.   Damn... a new recommendation from me for those who want PNW brews!

Bottle. Dark red colour with a big beige head. Malty, dark fruits aroma and taste, sweet. Medium to full body with a light alcoholic finish.

This beer was sampled at the San Diego Real Ale Fest thanks to the ever kind Dr. Bill. This beer pours a deep magenta color to nearly brown/black with a mildly thick tanned head which did not want to waft away. The aroma was very pleasant with raisins, vanilla, brown sugar, bananas, cloves, and hops being dominant. The flavor relies heavily of roasted malts and sugar. Total candy, caramel, vanilla upfront up til about mid-taste then the banana and clove takeover and gutwrench your tongue into a tizzy! Some alcohol presence, but almost moot compared to most barleywines of similar character. Tons of banana in the aftertaste...total grapefruity and acetic joy! Wonderfully aged beer!