Sprecher Barley Wine Ale

Brewed by Sprecher Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Glendale, Wisconsin USA

Bottle. Large creamy, fizzy ivory head that mostly diminished, poor lacing, slow-rising carbonation, transparent, and a red hue with some orange on the sides of my glass. Nose was some maltiness, sweet, some fruitiness, sherry, and port. Nose was sweet, fruity, some hops, vinuous but not overly done, and sherry. Smooth mouthfeel. Medium body. This is not one of my favorite beer styles, but this one was pretty tasty.

Large 1L? bottle, brewmaster’s reserve. Copper pour wearing an off-white head. Rather vegetal nose bringing forth scents of corn in a can, asparagus and earth. Higher alcohols also get felt in the back. Oily in mouth, with restrained carbonation and a very light body. Bleh, not Sprecher’s best effort, I loved some of their lagers. Fruity raisins, peaches, sweet fruit basket basically and peanut underlying are also added to the list of spread-out and uncohesive flavors. Dullish restrained hops. Lots of work on the table for this one.

Thanks to egajdzis for opening up this ’05 Brewmaster’s Reserve bottle. We enjoyed this while playing roulette in his basement... Appears a red toned, dark amber with an off white/light tan toned head that quickly fades out into a collar. Scattered spots of lacing are left around the glass. Smell is of refined sugar that has been caramelized slowly, cherries, over-ripened dark fruit, caramel, brown sugar, cut apples. Taste is of the mentioned aromas. There is a rich, sweetness to it that may be a bit too cloying to handle right now, even with a year’s worth of aging. Mouthfeel is full bodied, sugary, raw, and in need of aging. I think the attenuation is about as good as you can get with this style. It just needs about 4-5 years to mellow out and become more complex.

[2005] Poured a clear, orange amber color with a medium sized, off white head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of cherries, musty apples, caramel malts, light oak, nuts, and some alcohol as well. Taste of much of the same, red apples, caramel, dried fruits, citrus and light alcohol.

Any first impressions?
-A creamy sheet of foam stands atop the near-bronze ruby.
-Creamy cereals and fruity caramel evoke a scotch-ale-like aroma.
-Cherry fruitiness and caramel sweetness coexist harmoniously for the pleasure of the tastebuds.
-The lush maltiness prances as low carbonation is just active enough to give it some flooring.

What if you dig deeper?
-Alcohol reaches the nostrils, but doesn’t bother.
-There is very low hopping in this, a barley wine for maltheads.
-Peaches and apricots diversify the fruitiness.
-Not a memorable barley wine by any means, but a pleasurable sipper for sweet teeth nonetheless.

Bottle; 2005 vintage.

Bottle. Good sweet fruit (plumbs), barley malt and fermentented grain. Nice amber body with tan disipating head. Flavor was alcohol warming and barley malt. Somewhat harsh. Body had a full bodied texture but the sweet fruit was missing in the flavor. Wet grain for aftertaste. Smells better than it taste.

Pours reddish brown with a fine tan head. Aroma smells like candy and fruitty. Complex flavor. Almost a sweet white wine taste upfront with grapey and farmhouse flavor. Sweet and candylike in the aftertaste. Not much bitterness or hop flavor, but I thought this was very good. A little different than a typical American barleywine.

Sample at Indy tasting Dick’s 96th - Aroma is hoppy, carmel, and spice. Pours transparent brown with no head or lacing. Flavor is cardboard and not so good. Palate is tart and sticky. Not a good example of the style.