Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale

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

Pours a cloudy bronze with little head. Aroma is pretty typical barleywine, highlighting brown sugar, maple, custard, caramel, milk chocolate. Quite an alcohol kick in the mouth, the coating and smooth otherwise. Contains a nice hop kick in the mouth, and good lasting bitterness. A very nice beer.

Clear amber color with a medium light brown head. Aroma of hops with caramel notes. Flavor had hints of pine with a sweet caramel end.

Bottle shared with Hogtown Harry, beigaman, and Jerc, Harry’s bottle. Dark ruby brown, very frothy white head. Lovely malt and alcohol in aroma, some hints of smoke as well. Great taste - alcohol, sweet malt, rather spicy and a little bitter. Frothy mouthfeel. Not terribly complex, but simple either - this achieves a great balance and is a wonderful barleywine - I like these guys! Great label too.

Pours an orangey amber with minimal tan head. Has a simple aroma. Caramelish malt, and a touch of mint. Definitly alcohol too. The flavor is harsh IMO. It’s mainly alcohol burn. There’s also a sweet caramel character. Some woody-dry notes. Some vanilla sweetness with a late dryness. Followed by more alcohol which burns the throat. The flavor isn’t bad, but there’s too much alcohol in the flavor.

Bottle: Courtesy of Styles. Malty and fruity up front with some caramel and alcohol. There’s something in the aroma that lingers lightly in the background that I’m not a fan of. A little apple and some light hops. Pours a hazy deep red with an off-white head and lots of sediment. Malty up front with some caramel and light citrus. Rather hoppy finish. I like hoppy barley wines but I like the combination with the banana bread flavor and this is missing the banana bread. Still pretty good though.

Appearance: Pours a clear, dark amber body with a full, foamy off-white head. Smell: Sweet-smelling aroma of oranges and lemons with only a light addition of caramel. Hint of green peppercorns and breadcrusts. Taste: Sweet caramel maltiness with a slight toasted quality to it. Faint spiciness. The hops provide a rich citrusy flavor, but yield only a mild, reserved bitterness. Finishes bittersweet. Mouthfeel: Medium-full body. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: A good barleywine and another fine offering from Smuttynose.

Bottle pours a slightly hazy reddish copper, medium frothy sandy colored head, mild head retention, lively carbonation, with fairly attractive lacing.   Sweet malty nose, subtle hop presense.   Strong, almost biting hop bitterness at the forefront, quickly settles becoming a smooth semi-sweet malty elixir.   I can feel the heat of this one quite easily.   10% ABV is noticable, but doesn’t distract.   Body and mouthfeel seem fairly average, slightly viscous but also surprisingly fizzy.   Finishes with a bit more heat, and a bit more alcohol.   This also seems to be somewhat green, with a bit of a biting hop bitterness at the end.   Needs some time to smooth out me thinks.   Thanks goes out to Zathrus13 for the freebie!

Dark amber colour with absolutely no head. The smell is pretty malty, but some hops do come out if you smell long enough. Some sweet smells seeming like rasins and plums also come out. Full-bodied mouthful with a large amount of carbonation. A big hop kick initially, and subsides to a good malty flavour. The alcohol is definately evident, even though its only 7%. A decent beer, but not great for the style. I had this out of a 22 ounce bottle purchased from Beers of the World in Rochester, New York.