Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale

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

2004 bottle opened 7 Jan ’06. Clear, deep reddish orange color with a pleasant sized, beige head that is quite dense. The head slowly fades to a ring leaving good lacing behind. Rich caramel aroma with a bit of oxidation mixing with alcohol. Medium to full bodied, gentle carbonation. Initially sweet with pleanty of residual sugars. Moderate to full alcohol and a suprising amount of IBU’s for a beer aged for a year or so. Good balance, nicely crafted BW.

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.

No head, copper body. Aroma of sweet malts, extremely oxidized. Taste is big ethanol, more oxidized malt flavors. Finish is slightly bitter, clean.

Bottle. Hazy red body under a creamy light head. A bit of marshmallow fluff accompanies the apricot-tinged caramel malt. Boozy flavor - dark fruity caramel sweetness with milk chocolate peeking around the corner. There’s some lemon rind/stemmy resinous hop bitterness along with alcohol in the finish. Medium mouthfeel with a sugary finish-feel. Smoky caramel malt as well as butter. A pretty average BW, not quite hoppy enough for my tastes.

reddish tint to it, very transparent. didnt get a big aroma that i expected, some weird pine forest thing going on. lots of licorice and bourboon soaked wood chips in it. noofest victim.

Bottle: Pours a deep amber with a small sandy head. Aroma of caramel and hops, a bit sweet and vinous. Taste is full of citrus and malts, some caramel. Warming, yet the 10% was well masked. Very straightforward and balanced. Good. Thanks BuckeyeBoy.

Bottle. Pours deep amber red with a thin beige head. Sweet aroma with caramel, candy sugar, apple, and floral hops. Medium body. Flavor is hoppier than the aroma lets on, with grass and floral notes, as well as sweeter notes of caramel and fruit. Pretty nice.

Bottle from Garrett (rayg1) Thanks. Pours out a dark red color - no head. Smell is grassy and fresh hopped, some sweetness. Taste is smooth and rich, bitter, and interesting. Bottle recommends some cheese - and with that, Garrett and I reached for the bleu and vermont cheddar, and this greatly enhanced the beer. Very good stuff, after the cheese factor. Probably a 3.5 before the cheese, 3.9 after. Good stuff from a never disappointing brewery. Original rating: 8 / 4 / 8 / 5 / 14 : 3.9 Updated: Cellar pick: 2003 bottle, 50 degrees. I thought I hadnt drank this before, but apparently I have. Oh well, I will still update my rating. Pours a niec reddish color with a thick yellowish head on it. Smell is great, full of some hop flavors and virtual no alcohol. Taste is sweet and smooth and actually pretty hoppy still. The boozy effect is long gone, leaving an incredible barley wine. People rating this fresh should have their head examined - this stuff is best after 5 years. Awesome beer.