Rock Art Ridge Runner Ale

Brewed by Rock Art Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Morrisville, Vermont USA

On tap at Mount Snow, VT. Pours a medium brown with fast vanishing head. Aroma is toffee and a bit of fruit. Taste is not bad, with earthy fruit and toffee. Very very thin and light for a barley wine. I thought the waitress must have been mistaken about the style, I thought for sure it was a brown ale, but there you go...it says it right there on the bottle.

Pours a deep amber with a tan loosely knit head. Aroma is of Light pine and a hdgepodge of malts, nothing really defines the aroma. The body is awefully light for the style. The Flavors are again a hodgepodge of biscuits, cookies and grapefruit but nothing really takes charge to define the beer. Finishes fairly dry but certainly no heat. Not a bad beer per se, but unfortunately due to alcohol limits in VT, this just can’t be considered a barleywine, a descent American Strong Ale but not Barleywine.

Caramel, chocolate aroma, deep copper, small tan head. Sweet malt and chocolate taste. Light bodied, sweet. Ordinary beer, doesn’t fit the style. Thanks Sammy.

This isn’t even fair after just having the Doggie Claws. BUT, this is a severely lacking barley wine even when not comparing to the HOTD. Mild on all fronts, light bodied, and lacking character. Earthy and non descript malt, fairly stale hops, smoky. This one needs to go back to the drawing board.

Sample at DougShoemaker’s 2005 December gathering - bottle courtesy of Sammy. Ruby-amber with a small head. Aroma is fairly sweet, with an interesting smokiness. Flavour is pretty mild, roasty & smoky, with some hop bitterness to finish. Not bad, but weak for the style.

Bottle, Doug’s Christmas 05. Smoke and mild malt in aroma. Taste has some smoke as well with some mild roast. Thin mouthfeel. Almost tart at the end. This is really quite mild stuff - I fail to see how this is a barleywine to be honest. Pretty underwhelming.

I think a cross-over-style. Barley and hoppy aroma, beautiful head, very cloudy, some retaining lace. Smokey peat then bitter, with barley wine in taste. Though malty with chocolate malt, making for easy drinkability, it has Thinnish mouthfeel. High carbonation. Not bad.

Thanks to Tracey for bringing this back from Vermont for me! Pours a clear brown, small beige head. Nose is malty, but not strong. Flavor is almost ale-like, thinner than expected from a barley wine. A bit nutty and caramelish, kinda weak. Not really bad, just not a good barley wine.