Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale

Sweet pineapple and caramel nose. Very good head and lace. The palate is very spicy. Typical barley wine, but the the longer I sipped the less I liked it. The beer became cloying and astringent.

Appearance: beautiful, rosey, garnet color, with a solid, 1/2" algae-green head o’ foam. Aroma: big, fat, and sugary, fruity, sweet, while still soft, and well-rounded. A lovely fruit-punch in the nose (but not a fruit punch-in-the-nose), with notes of strawberry, cherry, melon, & more. Discernible alcohol, but not rough at all. Taste: great hops, tasty malt, but potent booze stands tall every inch of the way, traveling through every corner of the mouth, treading every path of the senses. Long presence on the palate, with a resilient boozy finish. Great taste, full fruit, thick malt, and in the final analysis, the strength proved to be managable, but the alcohol remained long into the finish. One delicious barleywine!

Dark amber with a medium sized head. Aroma of sweet malt and caramel. Sweet malt flavor with a touch of hop bitterness. Medium bodied, creamy palate. Very warming finish.

Pours a clear copper orange with a nice off-white head. Aroma is bold and hoppy, with plenty of sweet caramel malt to back it up. Starts with a nice sweetness, then some hoppy bitterness before a clean smooth finish that hides the alcohol very well. Has nice complexity. Reminds me a lot of Bigfoot, but not quite as balanced.

Deep reddish orange. Thin creamy and resilient head. Nose has maple, lots of caramel, quite malty, typically barleywine sweet. Sweet and malty, some hops, a bit sour. Isn’t quite as full as I’d like. Alcohol also a mite overly noticeable. Decent.

Very thin head which dissipates quickly but has great carbonation for a barley wine. Nice aroma. Sweet with caramel, tons of malts, a bit of hops and maybe a hint of maple. Color is a muddy dark copper. Flavor is think and a little sweet with a nice alcohol burn. More malts and caramel. Not very complex but pretty smooth. Finish is nice and thick, a little bitter and slightly tart. A decent barley wine but lacks the complexity of some. Wow the further into the bottle I get the less I am impressed with this brew. Having trouble finishing it. Almost has a flavor/aroma or kerosene. Something is just not right here. Rating adjusted down from 3.8 initial.

Aroma, flavor, palate all seemed thin after just finishing a Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot Barleywine. That doesn’t mean this beer is without its merits. The toffee in the flavor was nice, along with the significant hop presence thru the finish.

Nice amber color with a very small head. Seducing aromas of caramel, malt and alcohol. Great, powerfull flavors of caramel, malt, hops and alcohol. Very good, very enjoyable.