Old Sebastes Barley Wine
Anacortes Brewery & Rockfish Grill

 

 

 

2010 keg tapped 2014. Poured into a small snifter. Pours a dark mahogany brown with ruby tints at the edges. Fine half finger light tan head with good retention and lacing. Nice aroma of dark dried fruit, sweet caramel malt, hints of vanilla, mild wet cardboard oxidation. Flavor follows with dark dried fruit, caramel malt, toffee and vanilla, the same mild oxidation. Creamy medium to heavy bodied. A classic English style barelywine with well balanced malt and dark fruit flavors, well integrated and melded by aging. Perhaps a bit on the sweet side, but that is hardly a big problem for this style. Enjoyable sipper, wouldn't mind trying this a bit younger to compare, but I'm glad I got a chance at this vintage one.

 

 

 

 

2009 vintage sampled 2010

A: Poured a deep ruby color with a small head,

S: Dark fruits, caramel

T: Sweet and robust, well rounded with more character than I thought it would have. Lots of malt, vanilla and toffee notes. Chewy and coating.

M: Mouthfeel is a strong, sweet feel. I can not say enough about this barleywine and the entire brewery was great.
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2008 vintage sampled 2011

A: Poured a cloudy maroon color with a nice white cap

S: Loads of dark fruits: Figs, raisins, plums, caramel

T: Wow. Figs, plums, raisins, caramel, toffee, sugars, hints of funk on the end and then some orange peel oddly enough

M: Heart, full, sticky, sweet

D: A can not miss!

Hazy orange with medium tan foamy/frothy head with good retention. Barley sweetness and citrus aroma. Orange zest and barley caramel sweetness with hints of chocolate and vanilla with an alcohol and light bittering finish. Light mouthcoating and slightly sticky.

Interesting and very powerful flavors at first, it's later overpowered by sweetness. It's pretty smooth and easy to drink because of the sweetness but I prefer a bit of a challenge in my barleywine.

4 3 3.5 3.5 4

2007 version; tasted at the Hard Liver Barleywine Festival 2009

Appearance: Arrives with a clear dark amber color and a modest head that leaves some lace

Smell: Caramel and tobacco

Taste: Caramel and tobacco up front, with some piney hops entering the profile by mid-palate; after the swallow, the leafy bitterness and caramel malt blend together

Mouthfeel: Thick and chewy with relatively low carbonation

Drinkability: Not the best of the festival but nicely balanced and easy to drink

Missed the BarleyWine festival, but much to my surprise, Beveridge Place still had this beer (the Old Sebastes) on tap when I was in Seattle for the HardLiver festival. I can't say this beer was better then anything I sampled at HardLiver, but it sure would have given most BW's there a run for their money.

The beer pours a rich mahogany color with very good head retention and lacing. The beer smells quite sweet and malty, but also with some noticeable vanilla, nuts and wood. The beer smells pretty damn good. The flavors on the palate replicate the aromas I got on the nose. The beer comes across as very big, very rich and intensely flavored. There is just enough hops to give this beer some bite and keep it from becoming too tiring to drink. While I very much enjoyed the BW, it started to wear me out towards the end. You start to notice the alcohol more and more, and it's so rich and sweet, I think that hurts its drinkability just a bit. Still, this is a very fine BW, one I was overjoyed to see and try at this excellent pub. What a treat!

Appearance – This one is a medium brown in color and clear with a very modest head.

Smell – This is a winey nose that reminds one of a sugary port. It is very sweet and also has some light booze.

Taste – The sugars are explosive on the tongue. This is a very intense Barley Wine with a huge sweetness that kind of reminds me of a German Riesling. I like skyhand’s analogy to cotton candy. It just seems to melt on the tongue with every sip.

Mouthfeel – This mouthfeel hovers between medium and full. It is super-sugary and leaves a sticky film on the lips. The alcohol is very warming and even kind of stings the mouth.

Drinkability – This is a classic English-style Barley Wine that’s heavy on the sugars and lacks any significant hop flavor.

Comments – Thanks to skyhand for going up with me to this brewery and showing me the way. They were nice enough to bend the rules and fill our growlers with this wonderful beer. I’m drinking it now as I write – yummy!

This is one of the most versatile and creative brewpubs in the PacNW. Besides making good ales, as a lot of breweries do out here, they do some great Belgian, German, and Scottish beers, do a mean stout and porter, and now join Scuttlebutt as the only PacNW pubs that put out a good English-style Barley Wine. Way to go, Anacortes!