Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale

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

Poured a copper color with a small off white head. Sweet malty aroma with caramel, toffee, and piney hops. Flavor of sweet malt more caramel and hop finish. Medium bodied.

Bomber, about a year old. Opened with little fanfare and poured hazy medium orange with only a few loose bubbles around the edges for head. The aroma picked up toffee and darker fruits paired with a warm almost rye-like character and deep herbal hoppage. The flavor had well-aged caramel with a toasty, aged Scotch-like feel supporting mild fruity and floral notes around.. peppery alcohol was present throughout and stuck to caramel and toffee on the finish. Syrupy on the palate with low carbonation and lots of lingering warmth and bitterness on the finish.. no serious flaws here, but nothing great either.

Drinkable and the barley taste is there, it’s a typical American barleywine, hopped up on C hop, with citrus taste, a barley dominated substantial aroma. Peachy colour with small and significant head.A bit of bourbon corn sourness from the Jack Daniels barreling of one year. Still, I am glad I cellared it for a year.

Bottle (650ml). Shared with jerc, tupalev and beigaman - my bottle. Slightly hazy orange-amber, smallish off-whtie head. Lovely aroma, orange juice malt, soft citrus malt, wood, more wood - nice. Soft, astringent, alcoholic long finishing mouthfeel - good God this is an excellent BW.

Bottle.
Bright amber, smallish bubbly top
Aroma: Strong, potent hoppy nose. Quiet rich malty accents. Good clean alcohol below.(7+)
Potent kick of alcohol and hops. Green leaf , light citric hops . Sweet malt and alcohol at finish. Palate killer. This is big and certainly not shy. .

Brown body with a small white head. Big hoppy aroma suddenly becomes shy when I try to dig deeper. Nice bitterness with resiny thick almost astringent hops in the flavour. Decent underlying malt. A bit of a blunt instrument at times, but a lovable one at that. Medium palate (3+). Pretty solid and a nice capper before my mad dash to catch the train home.

Bottle and draft. Pours a amber body with a tan head. Sweet malty caramel body with a an etoh latent fruity plum and butter character. Sweet with a modest warming and some lighter pine and fruity hop character. Nice.

22 oz’er. Bright red with an almost orange tint. Nice airy, boiling head of foam, ubbles appearing and bursting every few seconds. The aroma is stark and sweet with a yeasty sense along the way. The flavor isn’t quite as over the top. This drinks with a musky fruitiness, a bit of citric acidity and an undertow of warming alcohol. I could see this as a wonderful accompaniment to a dish of game and wild vegetables. Excellent. (#3314, 2/2/2008)