Third Street Aleworks Old Redwood Square Barleywine

Bottle at Seattle gathering. Three years old and showing its age. Murky brown colored. Moderate head formation. Aroma is wet leather, aged malt. Medium bodied. Oxidized, cardboard flavor. Fair, perhaps better when younger.

Sampled at Oakes’ ’05 Xmas Party
’02 Vintage. Muddy brown color, adequate head. Nose is sweet of molasses, sherry and dead hops. Still, some life and light alcohol persist. The flavor is woody like particle board and a bit vegetal. Finishes with some tang and cardboard. To save its grace, no alcohol in the flavor.

Cloud orange beer, massive chewy malts, vanilla, tapioca over sweet brown sugar and a touch of oakiness. Flavour is quite chewy and malty but it finishes with a bit of acidity that lighten it up significantly. Caramel, pepper, and a faint dark fruit on the finish.

On tap @ Third st Aleworks poured a clear reddish brown with a tan head. Aromas of dark fruit, toffee, and a hint of chocolate. Flavor wasof cherries, dark fruit, and a hint of vanilla.

2/19/05. On tap at Toronado Barleywine Festival ’05 in San Francisco, CA 2/19/05. Lightly hazy orange amber, dark in color but somewhat "samey." Good reverse lacing but not much lacing. Nondescript aroma with a bit of light caramel and spiced-- decent but not great. Taste is solidly spiced and bitter, short on malt richness. Body is thin and uninteresting. Finish is bitterly hoppy with dark sap like a gritty IIPA but without much else. Long but weak.

02.19.05 Small sample at Toronado BWF. Color is middle of the road amber/brown/gold with middling head. Thanks to Brian for this sample. Just misses the mark all around. Lightly sweet on nose and palate with a ripe graininess where it should be more sturdy. Pithy hop character doesn’t submit to the malt backbone, making for an uncomfortable situation deciding if it’s a barleywine or big IPA.

This Barlley Wine pours with a beautiful deep reddish-brown/mohagony body topped by a huge head wtih great lacing. The aroma is slightly sweet yet bitter and herbal (Rosemarie?) with a slight roasty, woody note. The flavor is slightly sweet and bitter with a slight fruity note, some herbal notes, as well as, roasty woody notes. Full bodied, smooth and a touch dry.

Medium amber hue, nose is a pleasent sweet malt, old milky citrus... harsh, biting, but still a bit sweet in the first bite and the finish... not bad.