Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale

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

Poured a wonderful bronze color that was semi-clear with a surprisingly large head which quickly receded to just a layer. Sweet malt aroma with a touch of spice and alcohol. Flavor followed suit but played out slightly rough with a harsher aftertaste. The flavor tended to smooth out towards the end of the glass and I couldn’t help wondering how well a little aging would fine tune this ale.

2003 bottle thanks to Matta. Wine like heavy aroma intense caramel. Pours light brown with red around the outside. Malty caramel, some sharp hops. It has a very soft and creamy aftertaste with notes of licorice

I don’t want to lift Braudog’s rating, but his characterization of "musky fruitiness" is spot on. It’s like fruits from the mesozoic with prehistoric pine boughs. This is beer would go well with woolly mammoth.

aroma of citrus and some malts floral hops, flavor has a very nice malty character, grapefruit and a hoppy resiny finnish. reminds me of a suped up grearys HSA. quite good, quality, but not spectacular. would have rated higher if i was a fan of this style.

2006 Dark copper, sweet malty and fruity aroma. Full palate, sweet, malty, well hopped (first gold?) long bitter aftertaste. Alcohol is present there. Maybe the one I tried was a little too young, I should have waited a few months before tasting it.

Pours with a medium lemony ellow head that rapidly vanishes on a deep orange golden color. Strong hoppy aroma with lots of pine and floral hops. Undertones of fruit and malt. Strong hoppy taste with lots of malt underneath. Mild current taste on a strong alcoholic body.

Bomber. Ruby pour, light beige head. Overdone hops and malt, nose edging off from wort and incorporating a big dose of aged semen (try it sometime!). Some juicy pumpkin squeezings and pumpkin seeds. Taste of dry resin and hops, a little gritty with orange citrus. Medium-full body, thick with caramel and orange rind. Noticeably more aggressive than the Bearded Pat’s I’d had moments before. In the end, nice, but I’d still go for a Bigfoot.

2006 Bottle. Good malty aroma and clear brown color and thin head, slight swrill. Good flavor that is slightly hoppy. Hints of cherry/raspberry aftertaste(good but odd). Smooth with a little alcohol burn. Pretty good barley wine.