Rock Art Vermonster

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

A great barleywine. Hoppy and balanced, and surprising 100 IBU, certainly can’t taste it. Aroma is very nice. Big soapy white head on a brown body, inviting. Good bitterness. Dry hopping, leads to dry and pleasant hopped finish. Very drinkable.Medium mouthfeel.

11/21/08 notes: bomber, part of tasting. Pours dark red with a medium cream head. Aroma is boldly floral, with the addition of some citrus and guava. Flavor was dominated by hops of the citrusy variety, especially grapefruit. Finish was bitter, and tasty. Nice beer overall, and much better than I was expecting. Rock Art did a fine job masking that 10% ABV. One final note: done come into this beer expecting a nutty, complex BW.

<i>Bottle (22oz) shared with HogTownHarry and biegaman -- courtesy of HogTownHarry.</i> Pours a cloudy orange-amber with a small diminishing off-white head. Aroma of caramel malt, a good amount of earthy hops and some alcohol -- pleasant enough. Flavour’s malty along with earthy/resiny hops, some light alcohol and a nice bitter finish. Medium bodied. Not world-class but still a pretty good Barley Wine.

pours clear and golden with massive amounts of spotty lacing. the aroma is hop heavy... even more so than the dipa. lots of fresh leafy hop goodness... pine, grass and spice with just a touch of orange and caramel sweetness. alcohol heat stings when it gets warm. the flavor carries the same punchy hop traits and is impressively very dry (for a BW) though not quite parching. fruity caramel shows up but it has little residual sugar to muck up the show. it’s spicy on the finish which turns to a welcoming heat from the abv%. medium body is in no way sticky. soft creamy texture yet insanely drinkable when considering how much alcohol is in this beast...8/3/8/4/16=3.9

(Bottle). Sweet orange aroma. Beautiful deep brown body, tan head. Flavor is mostly semi-bitter citrus, along with lesser notes of mint. Nice prolonged bitter finish. Alcohol well restrained. Not bad.

Style and Glass: BWSA, snifter ABV, Volume & Calories: 10 % in 22 fl oz. estimated at 400 C Purchased at: Canal’s Lawrenceville, NJ for $4.09 Aroma: wonderful, floral, exquisite, burning. Visuals: better design, reddish brown, hazy, long lasting thinner white head, sticky lace. Taste: well balanced, less malt, more hops, medium high strength. Palate: low quality, spongy, terricloth texture, longer finish. Overall: Immensely better than it’s ‘younger brother’ Ridge Runner, but that’s not saying very much. Not a repeat, since I could have a great beer in the same volume at an only slightly higher price in Ruination, not a favorite, not very valuable, low craft. It’s a shame really, Rock Art has some very nice and affordable imperial IPAs.

Bottle (22oz). Shared with blankboy and biegaman, via trade with glouglouburp. Clear ruby-amber pour, small head. Dry, leafy-bitter aroma, sweet mild toasty malt, fair bit of alcohol. Some cocoa and vague cherry in the taste, butg mostly dry herbal bitterness with slightly burnt weak malt - alcohol is more prominent than it should be. Still, watery body, boozy and bitter, sort of a dry resiny aftertaste. Not bad, but do these guys do anything actually ’’good’’???

22 oz bottle. Pours a crystal clear amber body with a large bubbled fizzy beige head. A good bit of carbonation. Heavy caramel malt nose with a resiny hop kick. Lighter notes of coffee, alcohol, and figs. Kinda boring tasting, just tons of caramel malt with a somewhat brash resiny hoppiness. Way too much alcohol flavor and heat on the finish. Medium bodied with a slight resiny clinginess and moderate fizzy forced carbonation feel. Ridge Runner wasn’t any good, and this bigger version is even worse.