Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale

From a 22oz Bottle. Pours a rich, transparent ruddy amber color with a thin layer of beige head. Aromas of cherry gumdrops and some christmas bready malts. Over-ripe strawberries and other random juicy red fruits saturate the aroma. A bit boozy in the nose, but I soon find out this carries over to the palate as well. Medium bodied, effervescent mouthfeel thats strangely light for a barleywine. A touch of sweet brown sugar coats the tongue at first, but this is quickly devastated completely by a dominating wave of bittering hops. I’m also noticing a bit of bubble gummy sherry notes, but the hops are completely destroying my ability to taste any other aspects this beer may present. Hot finish. Perhaps this one may be a bit better with some age, but for now the hop bitterness is too out of balance. Still, the unique east coast treat is highly appreciated. Thanks, Sammy!

Aroma of bright white figs and an aged oxidized-like quality. Glowing bouyant of light hop dust and the very distinctive highly estery Smuttynose east coast year, there with a touch of banana among the sea slat area. It reminds me of East Coast adventures. Sherryish touches. Orange hued edges on a golden core. Flavor is a clashing soapy angst, with a destructive hot notes and a hop character that is of artificial Simcoe juice. Unfermented crystal malt melds with some husky tones, and some raw fusels and their respective ethanol brothers blow me away as red hot. Drinkability lost. The hop character burns and scrapes the throat, during and long after the beer is gone. Again, a touch soapy. Unbalanced, as the malt doesn’t live up to the poorly executed malt bill. Faint thai spice.

Aroma of yellow raisins, sweet malt, and toffee or caramel - excellent for an English barleywine. Appears a hazy amber color, with no head to speak of. Flavor is sweet and vinous in front, a bit chalky or ashy in the middle, and with an English hop bitterness in the finish. Palate is soft and velvety, with medium body, and with the slightest effervescence to cover the alcohol a bit. Overall, a very good barleywine.

On tap at Redbones in Davis Square (MA). Presented in a 10oz glass this beer was abundant and powerful with a fuity aroma. Murky golden appearance to this bad bod that was good but not overly dynamic. Taste was fruity and oaky while the palate was a little flat and a bit sticky. The drink finishes smoothly with a sappy aftertaste but overall an enjoyable beer in moderation.

Bottle. Murky brownish-red color with a thin white head. Aroma hops, vanilla, oak, bourbon notes, toffee, alcohol, slightly tinny. Decent aroma, nutty, but not overly impressive. Flavor falls a little flat. A tad sweet, tart berries, vanilla, more oak, slightly spicy, alcohol. Palate is oily. Not bad, but not great.

(Bottle from 2004 at Akkurat, Stockholm) Pours hazy dark red. Fresh raspberries, alcohol, tons of hops, (dried) fruits, Pineapple and and some coconut aroma with buttery, toffee-ish malt and nuts. Allmond paste. Red apples and honey. Hints of wet sand. Dried fruits and notes of alcohol in flavour. Bittering hops and a bit rusty aftertaste with toffee/lingonberry hints. Some perfume. Lovely bitter but smooth mouthfeel. Medium to big body.

Cloudy dark copper color. Pours pretty flat with almost no head. past its prime? Uber-caramelly in aroma and flavor. Almost a little bit of cinnamon in it. I wanted a nice hoppy american style barleywine and this is not the case. borders on an american barley wine and one of those super malty and alcoholic british ones. Luckily the alcohol is well hidden in this or it would take away a lot of points. I think this may be a little old because there are still some remnants of hops but the bitterness is still there. I guess what I’m trying to say is that most barleywines come out in this balance. The outliers being fucking thomas hardy’s and the superb Bigfoot. Obviously i prefer the bigfoot (hoppy) style. As far as the meaty center goes, this is actually pretty good....(long time later) reminds me of old numbskull = good. ps. a bomber of this shit gets you rocked

[Bottled. Akkurat, Stockholm] Deep ruby colour, good head. Dried fruits and heavy almonds in aroma along with honey. Big on hops here too. Very thick and roasty mouthfeel, with much of residual sugars and sweetness from alcohol, a bit too much of the good here. Superb finish that lasts long.