Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale

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

the sun-drenched chestnut orange of an okapi, wedded with the redder hues of dried salmon. it has bottle-bottom nebulousity and chunks of particulate matter big enough to choke a large penguin. the head is generally weak and just maintains a single tier of bubbles in a desparate ring hugging the glass in a wispy spiral-- like the scaled-down rings of saturn. thinner than a textbook on intelligent design theory! aroma parrots the alto voices of vodka and plum, sopranos of brown sugar and baked pineapple, and virtually throbs with verile basses droning thier burgeoning caramel malts. confrontational carbonation, it's sweet with orange and almond flavors, it's medium bodied, and its hops haromonize in songs of moderate tea and citrus. notes of red fruits, butterscotch malts and bourbon. with a milky texture and bourbon-like woody burgandy flavor , it's somewhat more muscular than the 7% abv would suggest. the calming buzz neatly dovetailed with my generally pleasant thursday night status quo.

Pours opaque reddish amber with modest head. Fruity aroma with malt and sweet caramel notable. Upon first taste, I was blasted with alcohol, but as I drank more it mellowed out significantly. Flavour was sweet with alcoholic notes with a malt foundation. Just a bit too alcoholic tasting for my likes.

Wow, drink a 22oz of this stuff and you’ll be feeling alright. While a very good tasting beer you will definitely notice the alcohol content. Pours a brown-reddish color with a small off-white head but a nice amount of lace. Aroma is quite hoppy and fruity. Strong hops, sweet candy malts and slightly fruity. I’d definitely get this again, nice strong flavors.

Bottle. Strong yeast nose with good hop presence, floral and sweet. Cloudy orange with a small head. Boozy and slightly sweet. Too much alcohol presence. Has potential, but not great now.

Sampled at the 3rd Annual Festival of Wood & Barrel-aged Beers held at Goose Island (Wrigleyville branch), Chicago, IL. Served from a tap. American barleywine aged in Jack Daniels barrel. Hazy amber hued having no discernable head. No discernable carbonation. Aroma of sweet malt, toffee, and raisins. Full bodied with creamy texture that starts with sharp bitterness with hints of toffee and prunes and finishes with lingering bitterness. Though on the bitter side, this is a very good, drinkable barley wine ale.

Pours a deep, amber, ruby red color with a thin, fizzy head. The aroma is quite hoppy at first but subsides into malty sweetness with a strong touch of alcohol. Full body with little carbonation, the flavor is hoppy up front with some malt in the backbone. The finish is bitter and hoppy, which then dissipates into a mild, lingering sweetness with a pronounced alcohol touch. Good barleywine, strong alcohol flavor despite it being only 7%.

shared bomber on 4/6/08, rating from notes taken. pours a deep red with a bit of head... excellent hoppy and citrus filled aroma. Spicy and hoppy up front, smooth on the sides and a short bitter finish. Overall an excellent Barley Wine... so far my favorite beer from Smuttynose.

2007 bottle, thanks to...um....I don’t know. Pours reddish brown with orange highlights and a moderate beige head with some lacing. Aroma definitely has "age" on it, but not too much. Notes of toffee, cherry, prune, sherry, toast, orange zest, maple, and alcohol/licorice. Taste goes towards a more desserty flavor with some brown sugar, maple, buttered toast, sherry/prune, earth, tobacco, and an abundance of dry leafy hops. Finishes with buttered toast, earthy hops, tobacco and a dry sensation. Slightly sticky from the sweet malt. Soft carbonation, thick slightly sticky mouthfeel, and a warming amount of heat. I really like this, I’m surprised the score is below the 3.8’s to be honest.