Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale

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

Bottle. Sampled at Akkurat, Stockholm. Murky, red-brown colour. A beauty to look at. Smells like runny honey. Thick, sweet aroma. Little noble cheese in flavour, probably good in accompanion with a French Chevre cheese. Massive flavour spectra, that wipes away anything else in your palate. This is a demanding brew, or rather aquired in its taste. Maltsweet, flowery flavour, a bit big on the alco in aftertaste. Actually, the high abv might prevent the good hop bitterness to bloom out. Peach and pineapple juice, as well as a light strawberry tone were very prominent. Yummy!

Bottle. Pours a clear amber with a small diminishing off-white head. Nice, sweet and hoppy aroma along with some fruit, plenty of malt and wood. Flavour is fruity and a bit boozy with some hops, wood and sweet malt. Medium bodied. Not as complex as some of the better Barley Wines out there but still very good and a joy to drink -- I’ll tell ya though, drinking a whole bomber of this yourself can sure make you feel fine.

Poured a stright amber color which was a lighter then i expected. good head Amazing lacing. Aroma was resinous. Flavor was the same with some caramel malts. okay beer but lacking things i expect from thsi style.

Very hoppy, with the requisite syrupy sweetness following. Lots of juicy citrus flavor, with a pine bitterness thrown in. Tangy almost chewy mouthfeel, and very noticeable alcohol flavor.

Bottle sampled with Stegosaurus. Pours bronze with a beige head. Alcohol is overly present in aroma as well as flavor, caramel, and sweet. Overated barley wine.

Sampled a 2003 vintage, thanks to RichLikeBeer. The oxidation was fairly present in this one but it worked well with the big malt profile that I tasted in this beer. I really could pick up on much hops at all, and that would be the biggest downfall to this brew, but maybe they ae a little more present in fresher bottles. Overall it was a pretty good beer.

Another very tasty offering from Smuttynose. Pours from bottle to snifter with a clear deep amber-ruby red color forming a frothy, medium size tan head which persists the duration of the glass. Rich, intense aromas of caramel candy, toffee, malt, raisin and some faint citrus fill the nose. Palate is full, smooth and chewy. Excellent balance of the hops and malt here for an American BW. Flavor is initially a bit sweet; again noting caramel, toffee, honey, vaniila taffy and crystal malts. Late palate reveals a moderate hoppy bitterness and a pleasant alcohol warmth. For $3.99 a bomber this is a fantastic deal on a superb BW.

this is a big beer - for sure. they say it’s the big beer series for the bottle size - but this hits hard to boot. Sweet malty smoothness leads to a big alcohol bite. Nice rich, warm, winter brew.