Upstream Barleywine

Brewed by Upstream Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Omaha, Nebraska USA

On tap at the Old Market brewpub. Pours a cloudy amber in color. This is not filtered. Has a yellowy, off-white head. The head subsides rather quickly, but remains atop as a thin coating. The aroma evokes many things: pineapple glaze on a baked ham, brown sugar on your hot oatmeal, pineapple upsidedown cake fresh from the oven. The flavor resounds with an equally amazing bombardment of tastes: green apple lollipops, molasses, caramel fudge, ripe raspberries dipped in semi-sweet chocolate. The lacing is so heavy that it falls down the glass like sludge. This brew would be better served as a topping over vanilla ice cream. Dots of money form over the top of the thin head, like the bubbling La Brea tarpits. This is amazingly more like a fine bourbon than a beer. Treacle! Definitely a strong bolus of treacle! The palate is so very thick that you are saturated after just a couple of ounces. Dustin, a brewer here, tells me that this is 28°P with no sparge at all. He could not remember the IBU’s, but they use a stupid amount of German Magnum hops. Dustin is concerned that the beer has yet to attenuate. He’s afraid that if they bottle it, it will creep upwards to 14-16% ABV in the bottle. Beer grenade! A beer like this from Upstream only proves my point about these guys: They are capable of making GREAT beer when they want to. I just wish they always poured one drinkable beer instead of the boring watery beers so often made here. In my opinion, this is quite simply the best beer that has ever been made in Omaha and one of the top ratings I have ever handed out.

Growler at RBSG 2006. Copper bodied. HUGE nose on this! Malty, sweet, candyish, and almost port-ish. Very Thomas Hardy to me, in the aroma department. Taste is lots of brown sugar, rich malts, big caramel, port or sherry notes, light alcohol, dark fruits and a touch of honey. Body is thick and syrupy. Finishes with more dark fruits, sweet malts, caramel, brown sugar, honey and light alcohol notes. Great stuff!

750ml bottle. Pours a bright copper color, with a tight one finger head that settles slowly to a thin cap and ring. The resulting lace is thick, and sticks nicely to the sides of my glass. Smell; hints of oak-barrel, with a significant presence of whiskey. There’s some hints of fruits and grains, but everything seems to be a bit overrun by the oak barrel and whiskey aromas. Taste; lots of fruit flavors with apples, raisins and plums, and maybe a little bit of figs as well. The middle has a nice sweet maltiness that fades into the oak-barrel and whiskey notes. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, with a very smooth carbonation that leads to a very nice drinkability. So far this is the best beer that I’ve had from Upstream. I think I may have to go back for a couple more bottles.

From growler, 2006 RBSG, provided by Sledge Jr (Thanks Todd!). Pours a very thick and syrupy copper with minimal to no head. Aroma is just a huge malt bomb, thick and syrupy with some alcohol. Flavor is huge with sweet sticky caramel sweetness. Some alcohol, figs, dates, and toffee notes as well. Mouthfeel is very cloying and full bodied with a sticky finish. This really seems to be trying to imitate a young Thomas Hardy’s almost. Not quite as complex as the master, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Growler at RBSG ’06. Second pleasant surprise from Upstream on the night. Clear copper color with a small beige head. Really sweet aroma of caramel malt, honey and dark fruits. Smelled like a cross between a BW and a mead. Sweet malty flavor, again with notes of honey and dark fruits. Still reminds me of a mead mixed with a BW. Could not detect any hops whatsoever. Alcohol extremely well hidden.

Had at Upstream Old Market on tap; both cask and regular. The aroma and flavor are complex with dark fruits, caramel, toffee, rich malt, and a little woody. The flavor is definitely port-like. The mouthfeel is balanced way towards the malt. I like this in a barleywine, but probably a little too much on this one. Needs a little more attenuation. Alcohol is not perceptible in the least, which is a good feat for a 12% beer. The cask version was obviously less carbonated, and I thought that it accentuated the malt balance even more. Probably my favorite so far from this brewpub.

Clear brown body is headless more or less. The aroma is so intense that my eyes sting when I sniff too hard. Bread pudding, spicey, bready malt, and whiskey-like alcohol. The flavor is a little on the syrupy side. This is definitely a monster of a beer.

RBSG06: A very pleasent Barley. Very smooth and drinkable for a rather harsh style. Lots of honey giving a very sweet aftertaste.