Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale

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

Bottle from 2004 @ Akkurat, Stockholm. Pours a slightly hazy orange color with an off-white head. Malty chocolate aroma with some hoppy hints. Sweet malty warming chocolate and caramel flavor with some hoppy hints. Sweet malty warming milk-chocolate finish with some hoppy hints in the aftertaste.

Bottle, poured dark coppery red. Very hoppy aroma for a barleywine, but big malty nose too. Big sweet malty flavors, and some bready hints.

nice big sweet candied caramel brew. Biscuit fruit and hops, nice combo. One of the nicest east coast barleys yet.

Rich attractive amber color, a bit cloudy. Head: Ka-Bloom! Way too carbonated, big bubbles with off-white color. Not much lacing. Good aroma and better flavor. Not that complex a flavor, but a pretty good barley wine, especially considering price.

2003 Vintage thanks to Rob. I’ve had this before at various times and wasn’t overwhelmed, but ageing is clearly the right choice with this one. Fresh, its far too hoppy and hot, but a few years on it, and its drinking well. Strong notes of orange zest and caramel lead into vanilla bean and oak. The malt is starting to kick in, although its still a bit hot and hoppy. Excellent stuff, and stood up well beside an 03 Dogwood Excellent Adventure and an 01 Old Dominion. Thanks, Rob!

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.

Sweet aroma, malty, fruity, like raisins, plums. Very attractive ruby color,clear, modest white head, relatively low carbonation. Nice flavor, starts as caramel, candy sugar, some evidence of piney hops as it moves toward the back of the mouth. Nice lingering piney hop bitterness on the finish. This style can have a thick or oily mouthfeel, but that is not in evidence here. The mouthfeel is simply medium in thickness and texture. Very enjoyable Barley Wine overall.

Vintage 2007 Pours dark amber with a chill haze. Beige, thick head of two inches with an exagerated pour. Lacework of mostly dots with a few streaks throughout the duration. Aromatics are laden with pineapple skin, tangerine pith, and caramel drizzeled grapefruit. Medium malt with grapefruit oils and peppery alcohol. Mouthfeel is on the full side of medium, sticky, and puckering. The pallet starts off aggresively with plenty of high-alpha bitterness, citrus bite, and caramel malt. Almost numbing on the tongue with alcohol, hops, and puckering grapefruit. Very nice. Finishes with lingering warmth, drying bitterness, and pithy citrus flesh. I prefer this barleywine screamingly fresh, as this one is, as opposed to a vintage version.