The Menace
Iron Springs Pub & Brewery

Before the abomination that became The Malice, this was the base version, a barleywine consumed at the Toronado Barleywine Festival 2010.

Both were ugly beers. Murk brown, ultra thin 1/50"head lighter brown. A little bit of pine tree and a lot of caramel in the nose. Ok, so the putrid aroma from the barrel version came not from the beer, but whatever happened in that barrel. Check.

Pine note keeps coming at ya, this got way covered up and replaced with oak in the barrel. Couldn't really tell the hopping level in a barrel, but the base had it aptly put in the American BW category/subgenre. Probably was in the 100ibu range from the way it wrecked the palate on the scoresheet. 11% was there, but not problematic, hell it already was kinda tasting like burning, no wait, warming. This had just as much in common with the double ipas of yesteryear with all that caramel and C hoppiness providing lots of bitterness from either a grapefruit, or here, a tree flavor profile.

Can't find a picture of this. Bottled as part of the 2010-2011 Winter 4-Paks...Pours a syrupy, dark, rusty and cloudy brown. No real head forms and no real lacing. Barely carbonated. This is 11% ABV so I suspect sweet and heavy. Aromas are faint. I get some heavy brown sugar notes, and that's about it. Maybe a touch of cinnamon, too. Hmmm....Flavor is huge, robust. Some very sweet components right upfront, along with a mild yet spritzy carbonation. Quite hoppy, too, through the middle and finish balances this not-as-sweet-as-I-thought-it-would-be beer. Highly drinkable for 11%, too. I could see a great many getting ill off this. Mouthfeel isn't nearly as thick or cloying as I thought it might be, either. A very good and unique take on the style. Finish has a long, hoppy bitterness that is quite welcome. This is like a two-person 100 M relay race - with the sweet malt handong off to the hops and winning the race with your taste buds. Super-expensive and from what I can tell only available in bottles as part of the 4-pak ($35 for the 4-pak). Worth every penny, though.

What I like most: The wonderful, unique and balanced flavors.

What I like least: The price and lack of head.

Verdict: Still a good beer worth trying to track down.

Poured up at the 2010 Toronado Barleywine Festival with hazy deep muddy amber body and loose tan head. The aroma is kind of herbally, earthy, shrubby, pine and very little malt or dark fruity sweetness. The taste goes from a little bit spicy to thick chewy malt infused earthiness then some sludgy pine enters heading into bitter pine resin. The taste is sweeter and maltier than the nose indicated.

3/6/10 at Iron Springs/10oz glass
A- Dark, chocolate, with a good amount of lacing
S- Chocolate, Hops, Spice
T- Creamy! Chocolate, hops, spice
D-I could drink a few of these, the creamy chocolate hoppy
taste is just great, I absolutely love this. For 11% you cannot taste the alcohol at all. Goes great as a dessert, but you just want to drink more and more.

On tap at Toronado for Barleywine Fest 2010.

Dark brown in color with a small off-white head. A little lacing.

Aroma is a little odd without too much to it, with sweet caramel malt and earthy hops.

Flavor is really hoppy, one of the hoppier entries to the fest. Sweet caramel malt, toffee, earth, and mild booze as well.

Lots of palate wrecking hop oils with medium body for the style.

Drinkability is decent. Overall, meh, not bad but sort of paled in comparison to other beers there.