Tyranena Spank Me Baby! Barley Wine

Formerly brewed at Tyranena Brewing
Style: Barley Wine
Lake Mills, Wisconsin USA

12oz bottle.
Pours a hazy, yeast-infused dark rich auburn/chestnut brown with little head. Nice looking BW. Aroma is strange -- musty, dry, a touch alcoholic and a bit vegetal. Can’t say I’ve ever encountered a barleywine that smelled anything like this. Flavor is also surprisingly dry, earthy, some hints of raisin, medium hop bitterness and a weird, misplaced dollop of peaty smoke as if this were trying to be a Scotch ale. Palate is a bit flat (acceptable for a barleywine) and with a modest body with no legs (not acceptable for a barleywine). This is the strangest barleywine I’ve ever had and I doubt I’ll be drinking it again soon. In fact, I couldn’t even finish this one (I don’t like smokey beers). So far, the only letdown of the Brewers Gone Wild series.

Nose is fruity, ESB fruity. Somewhat dusty astringent. Attack is firm. Chalky finish. Hops seem brittish, light roasted note in a malty crystal idea. I really cant get over this chalk.

I picked this up as a single...not sure where. I thought it was a good and true to style, but very drinkable for a barley-wine. It poured a hazy red-orange color with very little carbonation (so far so good). Its aroma was very interesting. The most telling odor was of a wine-y smell that was distinctly sour. Flavor changed as I drank it. First sip was peaty and sour at first with a finish that was malty and tasted of alcohol. Last few sips (when it had warmed significantly) were much more wine-tasting. I thought this barley wine was very drinkable and pleasant.

I love these brewers gone wild series, especially at only $6/4 pack. Aroma has light fruit, vanilla, and surprisingly smoke. The smoke works well and is something I have never tasted in a barleywine. Appearance is cloudy brown and there is a little sediment, also rare for the style. Flavor has some sweetness and malt, but it is more dry than anything else. Mouthfeel is rough and unrefined. I will age some of this, but I think this is ready to drink and aging might eat up some of the sugar leaving a beer too dry to enjoy.

The pour looked thick and syrupy. Hazy dark reddish color with a large off-white head. The aroma was sweet and fruity with notes of either smoke or plastic band-aid. Sort of smells like it could go either way. The mouthfeel is full bodied but not syrupy as it looked in form the pour. Sweet fruity malt flavor with a hoppy middle. The finish is bitter but sweet. I think I will lean toward smoke.

Mild fruity aroma with citric hops. Juicy malts with good hop balance. Very American and well done, but quite mild.

12 ounce bottle poured into a wine glass. Pours a tawny brown, with a short lived white head. Fruit and spice in the nose. Some honey and brown sugar. Jolly rancher flavor with a bit of spicy bitterness, and a burning leaves flavor that I find way offensive. Full palate with medium carbonation. Lingering finish. Average barleywine if it wasn’t for the smoke.

12 oz bottle. Hmmm, I am a bit perplexed on this one. Let’s get the basics out of the way, pours a hazy dark ruby, with little to no head and medium carbonation, light to medium mouthfeel. OK, let’s talk. Not too much to say about the aroma, maybe sweet molasses, a bit of spiced fruit? The taste is what is both surprising, confusing, and dissapointing. The smokey malt flavor is almost overpowering, which distracts me from the fact that it is suppose to be a barley wine. This is a complex beer, I can taste raisins, carmel, hints of citrus, etc. It is a good beer, I just cannot get that campfire out of my mouth.