Shipyard Barley Wine Style Ale (Pugsley Signature Series)

Brewed by Shipyard Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Portland, Maine USA

This beer pours a dark brown with lots of red highlights. A small tan head soon becomes blotchy islands. An aroma of well ripened fruit, alcohol, and unmalted barley. Flavor begins with a big chocolate rye bite. Hops soon enter the fray adding spice and zing. This is followed by alcohol and dark fruit. Finish is smooth chocolate and dark fruit. This is not a great barleywine and it disappoints in that category. However, this beer could be thrown into at least a few styles. In my opinion, it is a better beer than the scores here suggest.

Bottle (65 cl), thanks deft. Clear dark reddish, creamy beige head. Butterscotch aroma with dark fruits, and strong chocolate and coffee notes. Medium to full bodied, soft carboantion. Quite bitter. Not even close to being a Barley Wine with all the roasted notes.

65 cl bottle thanks to deft!
BB 10.04.30
On June 22, 2009
First time I’ve seen a barley wine with a twist off cap...
Clear dark red to black color, brown head. Sweet, lactic, butterscotch, alcohol, licorice scent. Lactic, salty, alcohol, grainy, malty taste. Coffee and roasted aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel, medium high bitterness.Peppry alcohol.
More of a stout or porter than a barley wine, though still enjoyable.

Pours a reddish dark black color with tan head. Roasted hints of chocolate and a bit of hops. This does not remind me of any barley wine that I have every had. This reminds me of a thick porter more than anything. It is pretty good though.

22oz Bottle: Pours a transparent dark mahogany brown with a thin ring of light tan head. Aroma of sweet toasty dark caramel malts with some earthy grassy hops and a touch of light fruits. Body starts with pretty good fullness and carbonation with sweet doughy dark caramel malts, some light fruity complexity and a touch of cardboardy oxidation. Finishes dry, thinner, and bittersweet with a touch of warmth. A decent attempt at the style, but could use more sweetness.

Bottled. Sweet, malty aroma with lots of caramel and dark malt, along with the slightest of toffee. Bit too much of toast and darkness here already. Mouthfeel and flavour is harsh and astringent, with assumingly too much of darker malts, that also gives a bit of sourish touch in the background. Oh, really harsh, bitter finish. This might be good for ageing a year or more, before it develops and gets rid of those brutal dark, harsh flavours, and turning in to a rounded, jelly-ish smooth Barley Wine. I very seldom pour out beer, but this time I did.

(Bottle) Pours dark brown with red hints. Light brown head. The aroma is sweet with tones of toffee, dark caramel and butterscotch. Just like their Imperial Porter, there is diacetyl present. Undertones of dirt, earth, milk chocolate, fig and prune. A sweet, straw-like note is also notable. A whisper of hops. The flavour is medium to heavily sweet and light bitter with tones of sweet liquorice, dark caramel, butterscotch, straw, prunes figs and brown sugar. Astringent yet buttery mouthfeel. Soft carbonation. Light citric hops and harsh malt in the finish. The friendly cousin Malt from the countryside gets a good donkey punch from the evil big city brothers Diacetyl and Astringent.

Awkward beer. Pours with a dark brown hue with no head. Aroma is of dark fruits, honey, alcohol, and some toffee. Flavor is sweet all the way through with hints of alcohol and a bitter ending. Syrupy texture with light to almost no carbonation.