Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale

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

Bomber. Ruby pour, light beige head. Overdone hops and malt, nose edging off from wort and incorporating a big dose of aged semen (try it sometime!). Some juicy pumpkin squeezings and pumpkin seeds. Taste of dry resin and hops, a little gritty with orange citrus. Medium-full body, thick with caramel and orange rind. Noticeably more aggressive than the Bearded Pat’s I’d had moments before. In the end, nice, but I’d still go for a Bigfoot.

On tap at Ginger Man in NYC! A- Pours a mercurial opaque amber with orange highlights, head is tiny off-white bubbles in a ring, moderate lacing S- Very minimal aroma for a barleywine, slight hints of dark fruits and alcohol, perhaps the mildest aroma i’ve seen in this style T- Initial taste is dark fruits and alcohol, subtle sweetness intermixed with alcohol, pears, apples, some pine resin hops in the finish M- Medium/full-bodied, thick and chewy texture, good carbonation D- I would not quite put this in the above-average tier, it is smooth and easy-drinking despite the alcohol presence, I enjoyed it but was perplexed at the mild aromas

2006 Vintage from my secret santa 2008. Pours a pretty muddy and basiclly ugly brown with just a bit of khaki head. Nice toffee and fruity nose. Plenty of hoppy goodness and chewy malt. Same with the flavor. Lots of chewy malt and grapefruit hop flavor and an aggressive bitter edge. Medium body with just a bit of carbonation. Balanced finish. Decent, but not quite what I was looking for.

I picked this up at Discount Liquors in Milwaukee. 2007 bottle. Deep Red pour with a creamy head that coats the glass. Candied fruit nose, with a bit of light hops. Rich, butter scotchy, caramelly, fruity flavor. Creamy, thick mouthfeel. The alcohol is very well hidden. Really mellow and well-balanced barely wine, and its Pretty good to drink.

22 oz bottle, 2007. Hazy brown with some tan froth. Nose is caramel and spruce. Medium body with a mild tang. Taste is buttery caramel but mostly bitter grass. Pretty good but a little one-dimensional.

Pours ruddy brown with no head. Malty dried fruit nose and flavor. A solid BW.

Amber brown, sweet, smooth, caramel, dark fruit, malty, balanced, slight alcohol.

05’ Keg.Tap at Blind Tiger. Poured a light mahogany with a thin head. I found this to be very smooth with the alcohol well hidden, I am sure the aging had much to do with that.Sweet and rich flavor, with hints of raisins and dark berries. This is of the more cognac/wine like barley wines, as opposed to the hoppy types.