Sprecher Barley Wine Ale

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

Bottle. Deep caramel color with no head. The aroma was of raisins, caramel malt, and light dark fruit. Thick and chewy on the palate. The taste was the samw with sweet and sugary with malty grape/raisin finish. This was a nice simple BW.

Bottle. Amber Cherry in appearance. Flavor /scent is dark fruit, sherry, sweet caramel. Mild etoh. Not a great balance here.

16oz bottle (’06 Vintage Gold Wax)-Poured a slightly hazy copper-amber body with a small tan ring. Aroma of malt, belgian yeast, caramel, and dried fruit. Taste is of the same with a slight alcohol taste on the back end. IMO does not fit the style and since we don’t rate by style it is pretty tasty and drinkable.

Pours an copper/amber color with a thin beige head. Aroma is sweet with apples, malt and caramel. Flavor is sweet malty with a lot of caramel and wood. Slight burn at the finish. Medium bodied.

1L Bottle (2006 Vintage): Sweet aroma. Smells of malts, caramel, wheat bread, fruit, and alcohol. Poured amber in color with a small beige head that diminished immediately. Slightly hazy. Sparkling. Very sweet flavor. Tastes of malts, sweet fruits, caramel, raisins, alcohol, and grapes. Medium body. Oily texture. Soft carbonation. Sweet caramel finish.

1 L cobalt blue bottle. Pours turbid rusty deep coppery coloreds with about half a finger of khaki head. My bottle, poured into a tulip glass, had a somewhat darker hue and a bit less head than the glass pictured at left. The nose was sour mashy fruity, with caramel malt, prunes, port wine, and aged cheddar cheese. The taste was malty, very fruity, with some earthy peaty and spicy notes as it warmed. Not as hefty a palate as I prefer for a BW, and this one started and remained a tad hot. The flavor started with a fruity tartness that got a bit sweeter as it warmed up, and berry, port wine, and sherry notes evolved. This one was unique, interesting, and good. Those 1L cobalt blue flip top bottles are just gorgeous, as well.

Ordinary amber body with a weak off-white head. Aroma: sour yeast, apples, caramel, rye bread. Flavor: Elements of both sweetness and bitterness. Starts sweet with caramel apple notes and ends with a nice hops bitterness. It’s not bad but I don’t see this as a true barley wine at all.

16 oz. bottle courtesy of Ugsmush. 2006 Vintage. Pour is almost entirely clear orange-amber, with a nice looking 1/2 inch off white head. Aroma of big sweet fruitiness - pretty intense. Caramel and some leather round out the nose. Taste is more of the big fruit, though it is somewhere between raisins and juicy fruit gum, not a terribly good combination. The big fruit taste was highlighted by some pretty sharp heat as well, though this faded pretty quickly after the beer opened up. Nice full body. This one was good, but it was a bit less refined than most Barley Wines I have had. Regardless, nice to see Sprecher branching out. Thanks for this one Jason, I enjoyed it!