The Vermonster
Rock Art Brewery

The VermonsterThe Vermonster
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From:
Rock Art Brewery
 
Vermont, United States
Style:
American Barleywine
Ranked #160
ABV:
10%
Score:
87
Ranked #16,474
Avg:
3.88 | pDev: 11.08%
Reviews:
251
Ratings:
628
Status:
Active
Rated:
Monday at 04:42 AM
Added:
Sep 23, 2007
Wants:
  48
Gots:
  108
We brewed The Vermonster with 110 pounds of malt per barrel and jacked up the pour into a wide mouth thin glass goblet.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by SickGnar:
Photo of SickGnar
Reviewed by SickGnar from Pennsylvania

4.22/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
A: Ruby brown - super dark amber when backlit. Huge khaki head that turns rocky and retains quite well but does not leave much for lace.

S: Robust malty sweetness – scorched sugars (like the edges of slightly overdone cookies), toffee, breadcrust, and some toasty grain. Dark fruits – esp. plum & raisin. Estery alcohol with just a touch of spicy kick – not too boozy though. For 100 IBUs the hops are rather shy –some resin and rind push though and are really well integrated and somehow dark like the rest. Rich malts really carry the nose.

T: Wow. Like the nose, but even more rich, robust, and complex. And the hops come out to just ever so slighty over match the malts. Firm bitterness throughout. Hops start off with loads of citrus dominated by grapefruit and rind. Through the middle – pine & mint mix with medicinal/herbal & spicy notes. Resin dominates the end and lingers on for ages. Resin starts with nuances of tobacco and wood, then it gets earthy, and as it lingers on you start to think of pitch – even tar. Like the nose, the malts is rich and complex and robust. Toasty, slightly nutty, malty base grain plays a little bit bigger role. Toffee and over-backed cookie provide sweetness. The richness is expanded by breadcrusty melanoidans that hint at but never truly get roasty. Raisin and plum dark fruits blend with the estery/floral and spicy alcohol that gets just softly boozy as it warms.

M: A ways over medium, but not too thick (not syrupy at all). CO2 is adequate to help carry this big puppy. Lots of dextrins, hop oils, tannins, and some sticky, lip-coating residual sugars. NO alcohol bite, but quite warming indeed. Resinous hops and alcohol work hard to take this one almost drying.

D: Thank you Vermonster, may I have another. Actually, another would put me under the table with this bews amazingly camouflaged 10% abv. Very robust and flavorful. Nice toasty and very rich malts with incredibly resinous and complex hops. The heft does slow you down with works well for all the character this one has. For the price (in VT) this is superb.
Nov 03, 2011
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.87 by Abstractspirit from Rhode Island

Monday at 04:42 AM
Photo of mvanaskie13
Reviewed by mvanaskie13 from Pennsylvania

3.63/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Poured into large tulip: color is dark amber, almost transparent, head is light tan and presented two plus fingers thick on the initial pour, head lingers well with a nearly one finger solid top after many minutes and some light lacing on the glass sides.

Smell is subdued for strength but malt forward, some caramel, raisin/dark fruit, aged hops, more hoppy than anticipated.

Taste is a little thin and caramelly and over hopped in a way; some caramel, lighter raisin/dark fruit, aged hops, earth/grass/citrus hops, prominent bitterness.

Mouthfeel is moderate carbonation, low/moderate bitterness for the style, moderate/strong bitterness for the style.

Overall a big, fairly malty beer but came through thin in malt and heavy in bitterness - for the style. Looking for more malt depth and a little less prominent bitterness in the mouthfeel.
Nov 28, 2023
Photo of kw_pip
Reviewed by kw_pip from Vermont

4.27/5  rDev +10.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Draught. Correct amount of sweetness. Doesn't have that boozy raisin sweetness one expects from a barley wine. Instead tastes of cacao in both flavor and hint of dryness. Not really any yeast flavors going on. Not bad, not great.
Jun 12, 2023
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.24/5  rDev -16.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
19.2oz stovepipe can from the Burlington Co-op. Dark amber pour with a light airy head. Aroma is malty, notes of caramel, light hops. Taste is malty and sweet, leathery. Doesn't finish well.
Aug 04, 2022
 
Rated: 3.5 by LAM01833 from Massachusetts

Jul 31, 2022
Photo of GreesyFizeek
Reviewed by GreesyFizeek from New York

2.04/5  rDev -47.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2
Can purchased at The Reservoir in Waterbury, VT.

This one pours a fairly dark brown color, with a small white head, and a good bit of lacing.

This smells just so abrasive, like a hoppy brick to the face - I would have assumed a West Coast triple IPA on the nose, and not the barleywine that this is supposed to be. It's just so abrasive and boozy.

This was absolutely a mistake to order. I already don't like something like Bigfoot all that much, but can appreciate what it is - this is like if you took all of the subtlety and redeeming qualities out of Bigfoot, and you were just left with stale, piney, dry, and prickly hop flavor. Whatever malt character there is here doesn't really make any impression, other than stale sweetness. Even American barleywine is supposed to have rich malt character alongside that hop character - this is just so out of whack.

This is super boozy, and just abrasive and super drying on the palate. There's very little pleasant drinkability to this one.

This was a complete shot in the dark, as I loved the idea of a 19.2oz stovepipe of barleywine for $8. It gave me an instant headache, and was just overall a very bad choice.
Mar 01, 2022
 
Rated: 3.74 by Stofko1992 from Pennsylvania

Aug 25, 2020
 
Rated: 3.8 by JamieDuncan from Maryland

Aug 08, 2020
 
Rated: 4 by Velivolus1 from Vermont

Aug 03, 2020
Photo of zeff80
Reviewed by zeff80 from Missouri

3.99/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
19.2oz can. Poured out a clear, dark burgundy color with a large, khaki-colored head of foam. It left sticky trails of lace on the glass. This smelled malty with toffee and caramel. A big boozy malt bomb of a barleywine with piney bitterness and so much toffee and caramel.
Jul 06, 2020
 
Rated: 3.92 by bottmfeedr from Texas

Dec 15, 2019
 
Rated: 3.69 by Reggie_Dunlop from Pennsylvania

Apr 06, 2019
 
Rated: 3.87 by moltch from Massachusetts

Mar 01, 2019
 
Rated: 3.93 by howardnss from Pennsylvania

Jan 04, 2019
 
Rated: 3.85 by KMcGrath from Massachusetts

Nov 28, 2018
 
Rated: 4.14 by Bitburger from Vermont

Oct 27, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by Qvicken from Massachusetts

Oct 24, 2018
 
Rated: 4.12 by SomethingClever from Ohio

Oct 07, 2018
Photo of Tony210
Reviewed by Tony210 from New Jersey

3.34/5  rDev -13.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
Pours a very dark caramel color, almost a red ale. Very malty aroma. Overly bitter beer, not my favorite. At one time, in 2010, I thought this was the best beer ever. Then 6000 breweries opened up. I can’t believe they still brew this stuff. Time to evolve...

7/13/18
Bomber, no date
3 rating
Jul 13, 2018
The Vermonster from Rock Art Brewery
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 628 ratings