Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale

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

22oz bottle-pours a retaining light tan head and amber/copper color. Aroma is sweet medium malt-caramel, secondary pine hops. Taste is sweet medium malt-caramel, secondary pine/metallic hops, alcohol. Slick mouth feel which changes to a dry finish. Sipping, occasional. Thanks decaturstevo for sharing.

Pours a dark coppery color with abundant amounts of yeast floating about. Aroma is light caramel, pine and citrus hops and a bit of earth. Taste is fruitier then most barley-wines with a good amount of citrus in it and less emphasis on the rich caramel/malt aspect. Still, the alcohol is well hidden and it ends up being a quite enjoyable experience.

Pours a dirty brown color with some particulate and a small-to-medium off-white head. Aroma is piney hops, pineapple, and alcohol. Taste is rather smooth - caramel, piney hops, some citric fruits, and alcohol. Pretty good, but a bit too bitter for my liking

Bomber. Pours deep ruby/copper with a thin white head. Aroma of fruit, hops, and slight alcohol. Flavor is initially sweet and fruity (raisins, figs), moving on to piney hops, and fading to a bitter alcohol finish with some slight bitter espresso. Thick, yet smooth mouthfeel. Very nice, although I’m sure this alcohol will hit me soon.

Very scotchy barleywine. I loved this beer. The Big Beer beers of Smutty have always blown me away, save for the Farmhouse. The Maibock, Imperial Stout, Big A, Wheat Wine, and now this one here, have all been downright impressive. Lots of sugary fruits in this BW, the way they’re meant to be. My bottle was aged nearly a year but the hops were still very much in the aroma and initial bite, though they were balanced and overtaken by sweetness which was nice. Nose of berries, molasses, butter, hops, and lots of alcohol though pleasant. Excellent.

Bottle. Copper pour, no head. Aroma is rich fruity malt, some peppery alcohol and citrusy hops. The flavor is the same, fruity malt, with alcohol and bittering hops in the finish. Decent beer.

2007 Bottle. Pours murky brown with a small off-white head. Aroma is very hoppy with a ton of fruit, especially pear. Flavor is fresh fruit, caramel, alcohol. More pear. Too much alcohol is killing this though.

2007 bottle: Pours a hazy, rust red color with a small khaki head that leaves a ring around the glass. Crazy hop aroma with the background spicy caramel maltiness of a barley wine. Wow, the finish made me forget the initial taste at first, it’s so loaded with alcohol and hops, warms the belly, throat and nose, leaving a slight dryness. The initial taste does have a nice sweet and thick caramel malt character.