Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale

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

Bottled. Clear reddish brown, no head. Appley vodka aroma with some grapefruit and toffee. Very sweet with syrupy mouthfeel. Resiny bitter finish. The malt flavours are drowning in a thick blanket of syrup.

Dark red with hints of brown. Small bubbly head. Fruity aroma of cherries, pears, figs, raisin and starfruit.Flavour starts malty of cherries, gigs and red apples. Finishes really hop bitter with a light peppery undertone.

there are few beers i enjoyed as much as this. lovely bridge between the overly hoppy or sweet barley wines, with a lighter body than you would expect for the abv. but what got me was the malt taste, and a little smokey...something wonderful i can’t put my finger on. will always look out for it.

22oz bottle: Lightly hazy bright red & amber colored body with a tiny tan head that quickly dies. Medium carbonation, sticky and slick. This has one of the best aromas I’ve encountered from a barleywine. It’s fruity, hoppy, and sweet with notes of apple, cherry, plum, berries, citrus, mint, alcohol, spice, carmel, toffee, pineapple, dough, and wood. The taste is complex, and really progresses nicely as you drink it. There’s notes upfront of fruit, berries, grapefruit, pineapple, and sweet malt. The hops make their presence felt towards the middle, as Indra noted, giving you bitter & spicy flavors of citrus, grapefruit rind, grass, flowers, and berries. Towards the end the hops back off just a bit, allowing the peppery alcohol, caramel, toffee, raisin, and toasted, syrupy malt flavors to come through. Finishes very hoppy with grain and alcohol; sticking to your mouth. A classic american barleywine here.

Cloudy, brownish, cherry-red with a wispy, thin filmy head and a very thin ring of tightly packed white bubbles. Spicy malt aroma with a sour, buttery character. In terms of flavour, mostly spicy malt with some pine and citrus hops, some notes of apricot and grape, and a clean, bitter finish. Medium body that is a bit inadequate.

22oz. bomber: This beer poured an amber color, that was a touch hazy. it has absolutely no head to it at all, and almost no carbonation. The aroma is nice. Some sweeter fruits in there, as well as a hint of hops burried in the background. The taste has some bitterness to it up front, followed by some malt sweetness. Somewhat spicy with fruits also. Not bad.

22oz. bottle, Jan. 2004 vintage. Wonderfully inviting aroma, nicely hoppy, spicy and fruity with some brown sugar sweetness and doughy yeast, along with hints of juicy pineapple, flowers, cedary wood, toasty malts and some faint, peppery alcohol. Dak red-orange in color, quite cloudy and sedimented with a fine, lasting head and incredibly intricate lace coating the glass. Predominantly hoppy flavor profile, the Santiams and Simcoes making their presence felt, again quite fruity and spicy with a considerable amount of bitterness that is really apparent from about midpoint on. Complimenting the fresh, potent hops is a modicum of sweet, lightly sugary malts, some golden raisin and toasty caramel noted. Finishes with a hoppy and noticeably alcoholic flourish. Rather lively mouthfeel for the style and a full body. A fine and satisfyingly robust example of an American Barleywine.

(Bottle) Pours a slightly cloudy copper body with bif white floaties and medium-sized beige head. Aroma of brown sugar, darf fruits, and a hint of caramel. Flavor of dark fruits and spices. Thanks for sharing, Nuffield!