Big Six Barleywine
Hideout Brewing Company

A - Pours a dark amber with a one finger off white head. Good amount of soapy lacing.

S - Aroma is dark fruits, caramel malts and toffee.

T - The flavor is starts with a mix of tropical and dark fruits followed by caramel, toffee, and brown sugar. The finish has some toasted biscuit and light earthiness.

M - Full bodied with medium carbonation. Creamy mouthfeel with a dry sticky mouthfeel.

O - This is a nice fruit forward Barleywine. Very easy drinking with the alcohol going unnoticeable.

22 ounce bottle into snifter; no bottle dating, but is a recent release. Pours slightly hazy deep ruby red color with a 2 finger dense and fluffy khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass; with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big tangerine, apricot, mango, raisin, plum, fig, date, apple, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, toasted biscuit, light nuttiness/chocolate, herbal, floral, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/floral hops, fruity yeast, and dark/bready malt sweetness; with great strength. Taste of big tangerine, apricot, mango, raisin, plum, fig, date, apple, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, toasted biscuit, light nuttiness/chocolate, herbal, floral, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Moderate herbal/floral/spicy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of tangerine, apricot, mango, raisin, plum, fig, date, apple, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, toasted biscuit, light nuttiness/chocolate, herbal, floral, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Damn nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/floral hops, fruity yeast, and dark/bready malt sweetness; with a great malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Light dryness from bitterness as well. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full bodied; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/silky, and lightly slick/sticky balanced mouthfeel that is awesome. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a light warmth lingering after the finish. Overall this is a really excellent English barleywine style! All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/floral hops, fruity yeast, and dark/bready malt sweetness; and very smooth and easy to sip on for the ABV. A very enjoyable offering.

 

1pt. 6 fl. oz brown bottle - not dated Beer 53 - Batch 1

Big Six Barleywine Ale is dark amber in color. A hard pour produced a 1/2 finger thin tan head that dissipated quickly to a ring of bubbles that clung to my snifter. The nose was dominated by dark fruit, malt and light hops in the background. The taste was malt forward with dark fruit, caramel and toffee noted. The mouth feel was full bodied, a little sticky with a warming alcohol and light [for a Barleywine] bitter finish.

Big Six was a little 'rough-around-the-edges'. Maybe more ageing would help. This is a sipper for sure.

 

 

 

Beer #53 Batch #1.Pours into an imperial nonic a deep mahogany with a thick light beige head that settles slowly into a frothy mass.A slight sourness in the nose mixed in with deep fruity notes,very juicy and deep in the fruit department.A great thick creamy feel,nice and chewy.Very fruit forward with caramel and brown sugar underneath,again the light sourness is there as well.A pretty complex American Barlewine,would maybe have liked a little more hops but there is alot of good stuff going on here.