Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale

Brewed by Smuttynose Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA

22oz Bottle Pours out a dark amber topped with a off white head. A very nice aroma of sweet hops. Very nice full body. Nice sweet malts and caramell. Very good. Thanks mkgrenwel for the trade.

22 oz. bomber bottle, blurb and serving suggestions on the left side of the label, bottled in 2006, sampled in a snifter. L: Tarnished copper with a finger high beige head that slowly settled into a thin bubbly, almost sudsy lacing. Splotchy dots of lace rings the glass. S: Figs and pear fruity esters that meshes with the alcohol, sweet caramel and a light graininess. The hops have a nice pineapple citric aroma. F&T: Creamy full feel in the mouth, sipping smooth with a soft crispiness. Figs, dates and pears, the fruitiness has a tasty sweet tartness. Caramelized sugary malts add a helping sweetness to the citric hops, making them a concoction of candied grapefruit and pineapple. Finishes softly dry, caramel and toasted grain bread, along with a lingering citric hop spiciness. Another well crafted beer from Smuttynose, tasty and smoothly balanced, high enjoyable.

Bottle: Pours a deep amber with a small sandy head. Aroma of caramel and hops, a bit sweet and vinous. Taste is full of citrus and malts, some caramel. Warming, yet the 10% was well masked. Very straightforward and balanced. Good. Thanks BuckeyeBoy.

New 2007 bottle. Hazy dark orange with a medium head. Aroma of citrus hops with sugar and caramel malt. Alcohol very prominent in the taste. Heavy bodied. This might need some age; I’ll try a year old bottle I’ve been saving, and re-rate. 2006 bottle (1 year old). Much improved over the year in the cellar, without the harsh alcohol burn. The sweetness comes out with caramel, raisins and dates. Rating is for this bottle.

I’ve been drinking a fair amount of barleywines this winter (okay, so I drink a fair amount all thru the year) and this barleywine just sort of...blah. It was easy enough to drink, but aroma and palate character were missing. It was kind of an empty beer if there ever was one. A "by the book" aroma of caramel with some hops present. Appearance was a dark burnt orange color with a nice off-white head. Mouthfeel was a little hot. Flavors combined elements of caramel malts, floral hops with a big dose of alcohol infusion. A pretty average attempt. I’d definitely drink it again, but I wouldn’t be on the hunt for another bottle for sure.

Pours opaque reddish amber with modest head. Fruity aroma with malt and sweet caramel notable. Upon first taste, I was blasted with alcohol, but as I drank more it mellowed out significantly. Flavour was sweet with alcoholic notes with a malt foundation. Just a bit too alcoholic tasting for my likes.

Another solid entry from the Smutty big beer series. Lustrous pour, a bright amber that practically glows. Fairly mild carbo/head, but a nice nutty aroma. It’s definitely an aggressive American bw, with some hop assertion at the fore and some nut/malt flavors balancing it out as it warms. Good stuff.

Pours deep, hazy red with a small off-white head. Sweet, citrusy aroma with a good deal of grassiness. Sweet, caramel-ish malt. A touch of graham cracker in the background. Piney hoppiness throughout the flavor, with a good sweet malt background. Probably the freshest-tasting Barleywine I’ve come across. It’ll be interesting to see what age does to this.