Telegraph Rhinoceros

Brewed by Telegraph Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Santa Barbara, California USA

75 cL bottle. Pours hazy orange with a small white and collapsing head. Dense fruity and roasted malt aroma. Sweet and solid phenolic flavoured with a distinct alcohol presence. Warming alcohol flavoured finish.

Wouldn’t at all consider this one a barleywine...not thick, malty, but the alcohol is evident. Rusty colored pour with a dense eggshell head that left a decent amount of lacing. Caramel, yeast, citrus, banana, vanilla, rye...and fusel alcohol. Not a big fan...

Originally had this at the brewery before it was released, but didn’t get around to any notes until we opened an official bottle at the RBSG09 tasting. Copper with a big white head. The aroma is sweet, spicy, fruity, and earthy. Telegraph yeast is a unique beast, and combines with the rye and hops to create a unique earthy and fruity impression on the nose. Not really like and other barley wine that I’ve come across. Dry and almost belgian in character, with plenty of hops for balance, but not close to many American barley wines. Starts sweet, spicy and caramel laden, but finishes earthy and dry. Medium bodied with ample carbonation. As long as you go into this expecting a unique beer that isn’t going to compare to any idea you may have of a barley wine, it’s pretty cool.

Bottle marked Mar 13, 2009. from the brewery I have held onto for over a week and a half...Was expecting to have the first rate, oops. Pours with a hazy orange body and a huge rocky white head. Aroma of rye, caramel, banana esters, vanilla and orange zest. Taste is rye, spicy, plastic and vanilla. Not very drinkable. Medium carbonation and light bubbles.

Date: July 12, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: RBSG 2009
Appearance: clear copper, wispy off white head
Aroma: sweet caramel aroma
Flavor: sweet caramel flavorm nice balancing earthyness, long bitter finish
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4

Bottle… Cloudy, dirty orange ale with a mid-sized, frothy, white head. Good, fat-bubbled retention. Fruity, spicy rye aroma – a touch earthy and a little caramely, but the rye is truly the star of this show. Mega full-bodied and velvety with lively carbonation. The flavor is sweet and a touch tangy - also dry, grainy and spicy. Bittersweet, rye-dry finish. I could be wrong, but I think this may be my first rye wine? You never forget your first. I’ve now had wheat wine, oat wine and rye wine. What’s next, Sorghum wine? God, please, No! Kudos to Beerlando for sharing the bottle!

Pours amber with a large creamy tan head and lots of sticky lacing. Aroma is malt, hops, rye, spices, esthers, yeast, citrus, banana, a little earthiness. Flavor is alcoholic, malts, spices, esthers, yeasts, phenols, bitter grapefruit zest, hops, dough, rye. Alcohol is very apparent and distracting in this brew despite all the other good qualities that are displayed. Strange, alcopop barleywine. But not overly horrible if you can get past the booziness. I wish Superdave were here to chug the rest of this, but since he’s not here I go!

Poured from 750 at RBSG 09, golden/amber with nose of fruit and vanilla with subtle malt and rye aroma. Tastes ofrye, hops, and citrus. Very good brew.