Barbarian Barley Wine
Pizza Port Solana Beach

Dark brown, thin head, beige. Aroma was malty, was expecting quite the opposite.

A lot of oak, toffee and caramel. Plenty bitter, a little bit of citrus to it. The roast amps the bitterness up in this one, that is under hopped compared to most PP offerings, but this might be an English barleywine. . . for them.

 

On tap at Pizza Port in San Clemente, CA.

Pours an almost opaque super dark brown with a foamy beige head that settles to wisps of film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace slowly drip into the remaining beer on the drink down. Smell is of toasted malt, brown sugar, and a strong alcohol aroma. Taste is much the same with a citrus zest flavor and an alcohol kick on the finish. There is a mild amount of hop bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer but the alcohol presence in the smell is fairly harsh.

On tap at my favorite Pizza Port: San Clemente. Pours a dark chesnut brown. Thin head in the range of .4" I would say.

Aroma is malt forward, was a different smell than I was expecting from a pizza port brew, something that is usually mega hoppy. English barleywine I guess, I didn't realize these guys did anything in the English style!

Taste smacks of virgin oak cubes. Then you get waves of caramel. If you're waiting for an uber hoppy dipa cum barleywine, you're gonna be waiting and disappointed. Carbonation, like most pizza port offerings is higher than average, but not a problem, in fact, it is probably an asset to this beer. What hop mouthfeel you get is primarily grapefruit and not really lending itself to much in way of taste. I found it unique in the way it really took awhile for the hop notes to come through, its like only after you have completely enveloped your palate with caramel and wood and whatnot, does the hop aspect finally come through, long after I had written it off. Makes for an actually pretty unique experience. Nothing earth shattering, but its kind of a long strange trip meandering road.

 

 

 

On tap at Hamilton's Port 2nd Saturday on 11/14/2009. The beer is tawny with a small beige head.

The nose is pine with rich caramel and some toffee. Dates are evident as is a little booze. Lots of resin with a subtle earthiness.

The flavor is aggresively bitter....my mouth hurts. Hop character is pine with a dash of citrus. The malt provides a moderate sweetness with caramel and toffee notes. The finish is very, very bitter pine. Dates are again evident.

Medium bodied with moderate draft carbonation.

I got a text message from my roomate today telling me that he got a growler of this at the SC location. I come home to find this in the fridge and I notice that its only 3/4 filled. I am informed that the keg blew while filling so the beer was free and he paid all of $2.50 for everything (growler bottle).

Pours a very dark red, pretty clear when held to a light. White/tan foam that builds up to about a 1/2 inch. Decent lace but not much retention.

Aroma is roasty and malty. Not much booze in the nose. Also a bit of a nutty smell is present.

Flavor is very smooth and warming. I initially guessed 9% abv and if this site is accurate then I was pretty close. Some alcohol in the afertaste but mostly a malty barleywine with a moderate amount of roast. Medium bitterness. I'm having a difficult time differntiating between roast harshness and hop bitterness. Dry and sweet aftertaste.

Body is medium, carbonation is medium, and drinkability is quite high.

Tap @ Solana Beach. Pours a murky copper with an oily ring of bubbles. Heavy earth aroma, with wood, leather, molasses, toffee, and hops. Slightly syrupy mouthfeel. Rich caramel malt, some toast, strong resiny hops, and a nice finish of earthy, woody alcohol. Some say it is a bit harsh, and I agree, but its harsh in a good barleywine way.

Pours a deep, dark amber. Thin white foam lays on the top. Smells sickly sweet; thick caramel malt layered on top of .... thick caramel malt.

The mouthfeel is thinner than I expected, but it's definitely as sweet as anticipated. There's a bit of balancing grapefruit hops, but this is overwhelmingly woodsy sweet.

I wouldn't return to it.

On draft at O'Brien's for CBC/WBC

Appearance is a dark yet clear amber hue, light off-white head dissipates, minimal lacing

Smell is sweet chocolate malts, grassy and piney malts, alcohol, and dark fruits, overall muted for the style

Taste is blast of chocolate malts, piney hops, and dark fruits, malts quickly drop out leaving the hops to dominate throughout, some fluffy marshmallow near the end, finishes dry and pine bitterness

Mouthfeel is full-bodied, watery thin texture, moderate carbonation

Drinkability is fair, the thin texture and hop dominance is out-of-whack for the style, the malt and fruit presence is sorely lacking, plenty of better BW choices out there

On tap at PP in San Clemente.

Poured a deep garnet brown with a small off-white head.

The aroma was packed with rich caramel malts (do I smell Crips 77 and 120?), citrus hops, and some faint chocolate malt in the background. Some alcohol.

The flavor of the beer was richly malty with a nice chocolate note. This is a little unusual for a barleywine, but it worked in this case. The hops were assertive and citrusy. The alcohol and caramel malts made for a candy-like sweetness that wasn't cloying, but rather pleasant.

The mouthfeel was viscous and creamy without getting syrupy. The carbonation was dialed in well and left fine and tight bubbles. Very full bodied.

This was a unique barleywine and a solid beer. I'm curious to see how it'll do with age, but it's one of those barleywines that drinks well fresh.

On draft at brewery, 02/25/08.

Clear, very dark brown.

Slight malty aroma (caramel?).

Smooth in mouth.

Sweet malt at first, then flavor explodes! Big wood notes and massive bitterness that lingers with salty, oily feel long after swallow.

Unusual and interesting.