Terrapin Side Project Gamma Ray

Brewed by Terrapin Beer Company
Style: Barley Wine
Athens, Georgia USA

22 oz bottle, shared. Pours a slightly hazy yellow gold body with a minimal fizzy off-white head. The nose is pretty sweet with lots of wheat and floral honey, light hoppiness. The flavor’s pretty nice, sweet but not overly so, with a good amount of yeast character. It has a lot of German Hefe like qualities almost. The honey emerges nicely on the finish to combat the slight alcohol kick keeping it from seeming too hot. The mouthfeel is nice and thick but not sticky, very well attenuated, the carbonation is soft and actually lends a somewhat creamy feel. Zero alcohol heat. This was pretty nice, maybe the best Wheat Wine that I’ve had.

Tasted at Ale Atlanta. Woohoo! Bam, another >10% rating. Batch #3. Light amber color. Hint of alcohol. Fruity. Very sweet. Nice body. Very good.

Another bottle(22 oz) in my Terrapin week, this wheatwine pours a slightly hazed, honey gold body with a tall vanilla head. Aroma of floral sachet, wheat twang, and honey comb. Low carbonation and syrupy body with alcohol heat. Floral hops prevent cloying but honey sweetness is distinct. Wheat twang and boozy warmth add plenty of complexity. Not my favorite style but a complex winter sipper with lots of warmth.

Weird. I got banana and citrus on the nose. The flavor was banana, clove and honey. I swear this was a triple. I liked it, but it hardly seemed like a barley wine. Strong, strong alcohol burn on the finish.

Appearance: Pours an opaque (though it clears considerably upon hitting room temp), deep honey-hued body with a thin, short-lived, white head. Smell: Candyish, honey-soaked nose with a distinct, tangy, toasted wheat component and notes of spice, white wine, and chewing gum. Taste: Both sweet and tangy, with a honey-glazed crisp wheat flavor and taste of sweetened and clove-spiced banana juice. Hint of gum and beeswax. Splash of sauvignon blanc. Restrained hop bitterness. Very slight chaff huskiness. A touch of warming alcohol on the back end. Finishes sweet and spicy with a lingering white wine taste. Mouthfeel: Medium-full body. Medium carbonation. Some stickiness to the mouthfeel. Drinkability: Pretty tasty! I’ll admit to liking it more than I thought I would. Goes down about as easy as an 11% ABV wheatwine brewed with honey possibly can.

Bomber via trade with damn my drucken brain, no that isn’t the users name. Pours golden orange with not much of a head. Whenever I think of this beer, Beck’s song comes up. Nose is sweet and wit like. Pretty intersting. Taste is yeah not a barleywine, but damn I like this. Booze isnt quite present. This is a weird beer, can’t really figure out how to feel, but its tasty.

This was a little bit of a disappointment compared to the other two Side Projects. There is a honey and floral quality to the aroma and a sweetness that keeps from being cloying in the malt. It just seems like there should be more hops here to balance the sweetness or perhaps a more complex malt profile. Do not get me wrong, I enjoyed the beer, it just was not up to my standards for Terrapin.

Pours cloudy honey orange yellow. Nose is the same with a bit of a citrus note. This is a pretty sweet beer. I really do not get much hops in this. There is some heat here. I do not know. I just can not get up for this one.