Double Deuce Barley Wine
John Harvard's Brewery & Ale House

 

Reviewed from notes. On tap at the Harvard location.

Pours a nice reddish brown color with an off white head that settles down pretty quickly but leaves behind some nice legs. The nose is dark fruits, sweetened malt, cherry, caramel, toffee, and a bit of booze. The taste mixes fruits together quite well with a bit of sweetbread involved as well. Good feel with a bit of booze. Drinks quite well and is the most solid beer I've had from them.

On-cask at the brewhouse - my last beer before leaving Boston after a great weekend of beer advocacy. It arrives in a 10 oz. snifter/goblet type thing a bit too cold for a cask ale. The beer is cherry/brown, fully opaque, with low carbonation and a thin, light khaki head that leaves decent lacing. It smells sweet, hoppy and malty, with caramel, green/piney hops, and some heat. The flavor adds to this some sugary sweet malts, molasses, apple, melon rind or honeydew, cherry? and a mild bitterness on top of a body that is big and heavy - but almost too much so. It is smooth and quite dry, with medium carbonation and finish, and is overall a fairly balanced barleywine - one that is strong and flavorful yet hides its high ABV quite well. Definitely a suitable concluding brew for a BA festival weekend. Here's to the next fest!

Rolled cat's eyes with this one on 2/7/2006. 10-oz. goblet pour right at the source, can't go wrong with that.

Nice 1/2 inch of just off-white mocha head floats for a minute and then drops quickly to a nice nebula, with a great amount of lace as the pour drops precipitously, much to my happy annoyance, and that of Kumar who happened to accompany me on this venture.

"How many of those things do you think they'll pour us," Kumar asked as he raised his hand for another. I shook my head, not knowing, but got lost in the hue, composed of equal parts woody mahogany and the darkness that just wraps around the outer edges of a candle's flame. It was not possible to divine what was happening inside, but it didn't take away whatsoever from the whole tableaux. I almost exclaimed the words, "malty gooodness, and raspberry sweetness on the nose," but a quick glance over at Kumar and I knew I should just keep track of what the hell was going on. Kumar power swilled his second Double Deuce as Jim helicoptered down the stairs, and with him a posse of indiscernible numbers. We knew he was bringing in some toughs from out of town for the EBF. Luckily, Kumar hastened to project himself as the man in charge and quickly ordered a round of the barleywines, allowing me to settle in to my glass.

On the mouth, a true exultation. Having grown used to the solid but not very daring offerings that this location had to offer, this was a true revelation. Chummy, sand against glass malt banged against the tongue along with a balanced sweetness that softened the blow, but certainly didn't hide the alcohol kick that bit later. I looked forlorny at my empty glass and weighed the options of staying with Kumar, Jim, and his crew, or the safe choice of heading home with the EBF a scant four days away. The angel won this battle.

If you attend the EBF, you would be remiss in not trying this true local.