Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale

Bomber from my cellar. Pours brown with a tan head. Nose is sweet with big notes of dried fruit. Taste is sweet and malty and caramelly. Over all a bit more cloying than I’d expect.

I thought this was a really pleasant and smooth Barleywine. A very drinkable beer for what can be a not so drinkable style. While I liked it, I would counsel against the advice on the label - I would not lay this beer down to cellar, I would definitely recommend drinking now. It poured a rich amber color, and the aroma was some pleasantly mild malt sweatness, alcohol esters, pears, and some hoppiness. Flavor was the same. Mouthfeel was very dry. This is a pretty serious beer, but a very approachable one. I would recommend this beer. I bought this bottle at Discount Liquor in Milwaukee.

Slightly bigger hop flavor than what I’m used to. Cloudy dark orange color. Fruity plum aroma. Slightly hot alcohol flavor. Full bodied with a slightly chalky texture and finish.

2007 version.

Ratings seem all over the place with this one. I’m going to a bit over the average perhaps because this had a chance to sit and age for a year to round out a bit of the rough edges. Unfortunately, it should’ve sat another year to further round things out a bit more. No doubt it could easily handle the extra time, in my opinion.

Pours with very little head, but a decent amount of lacing from the viscosity. Nice ruby colour with quite a bit of hop aroma after the year of aging. Intense charred kettle caramelization that was a bit over-the-top at times. Tawny port character with bits of maple syrup, candied cherries and toffee. Very dense with a potent assult on the palate that seemed just a bit disjointed. Some nice complexity going on, but each component just not finding balance with one another.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this sipper at first, but later found that the deeper I got into the bottle the more it became just a bit too much. Perhaps another year of aging will tone this beast down.

22 oz. bottle. Pours a hazy reddish brown with a moderate tan head that lasted through the first third of the glass and left a patchy coating of foam with each sip. Very pleasant aroma of caramel, oranges, and a bit of alcohol, particularly as the beer warms. The flavor is rich caramel malt and oranges with a bit of brown sugar. The finish is a bit brash with some heat from the alcohol, again especially as the beer warms. A very solid barley wine.