Sweetwater Donkey Punch!

Brewed by Sweetwater Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Atlanta, Georgia USA

Pours a very dark amber/chestnut brown with some dark ruby edges when held to a light source and a frothy, soapy off white head with excellent retention that only slowly fades to a lasting ring that leaves soapy rings of chunky lacing. Earthy floral hop aroma with a big citrus presence as well as some sweet alcohol and leathery earthy malt. This smells surprisingly very hoppy for the style but still has the musty malt aroma of an American barleywine. Very hop forward with a lot of bitter earthy and floral notes up front. Earthy, leathery malt body with some caramel and nut notes. Strong alcohol warmth in the finish Nice citrus peel presence from the hops, mostly orange peel and grapefruit. There is also a nice dry piny note from the insane amount of hops used. This is probably the hoppiest barleywine I’ve had yet and the excellent sweet and dry bitter hops balance out the strong ABV and musty, leathery malt notes. As mentioned above there is some nice alcohol warmth in the finish but the ABV is pretty well masked. Very complex with a lot of great hoppy flavor. Pretty drinkable but should definitely be approached as a sipper.

Bottle at LCRBM5. Hoppy aroma, sweet in mouth. Too sweet really. Good grapefruit hop. Nice DIPA/barley wine cross over, but a bit uncultured.

Pours a copper body with a slight haze and a beige head. Flavor is malt, mango, floral, tangerine, caramel. Flavor can be described the same but it is bold. Grapefruit, little floral, bitter finish. Amazing.

Copper appearance with a fairly thin white head. Aroma is strong citrus hops with slightly earthy undertones. Flavor is very hoppy with a somewhat sweet malt finish. Hops linger throughout however, especially in the aftertaste. Very powerful beer, perhaps a little overbalanced, but still rather enjoyable.

Bottle. Poured a slightly hazy amber color with an average beige head. Nose is citrus, pine, caramel, and darker fruits. Medium to full body with a smooth mouth feel. Big hop flavors in this one, loads of citrus, pine, and caramel. Notes of alcohol are present throughout. Finishes slightly dry and bitter. Not sure why they call this a Barley Wine maybe DIPA would be a better match.

Pours a red brown. Nose is all the usual suspects for a big hopped beer. Citrus, grapefruit, lemon, pine, etc. Flavor is loads of hops, sticky, resiny, dank hops. Some caramel, but mostly hoppy and bitter. warming booze! I’d say this is closer to a IIPA than a Barley Wine. But damn good none the less.

Pours amber with tan head. Aroma and taste are very similar. Pine hops slowly build up and then gets hit by a wall of malt to make this a blissful finish. Usually not a huge fan of barley wines, always have a tough time distinguishing them, but barley wine this stands out.

Bomber pours a great clear orange with nice billowing head and decent lacing. This must be a fresh bottle, because the aroma is amazing resiny pine hop. Flavor has lots of honey hops, floral, and big malty backbone for balance. Very similar characteristics to Hopslam. This is absolutely phenominal. I consider this to be more of a DIPA than a barleywine. Almost no I would want to drink this as soon as it comes off the bottling line, not cellar it like any other barleywine. Awesome label, and only $6 a bottle!