Barley Legal
Woodbridge Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

a flat pour (it was flat when i first got it so i saved 3/4 of the growler for times like this morning!) of their cask barleywine. amber in color, no head, no bubbles, nothing. smells sugary sweet, hints of dates, raisins, caramel and honey. taste is exactly the same as smell. not as complex as most barleywines. it seems like the bartender never sealed this growler properly, though i did have a glass of it on my birthday there and i remember it being barely (or barley if you will) carbonated. i know it's the style of barley wines, especially being on cask.. but the morning after i got home (birthday weekend!) it was already flat.

overal, it IS very tasty, but i need carbonation in my beer, otherwise it is not beer. sorry guys, i love this brewery.. it's a fun place and decent food... most of all their whales ipa is excellent. just wish this had a better feel to it, rather than just be an elixir for a blackout haha.

Last review was 2007...this review is day i had on tap.
Poured into 10oz standard glass. Brown amber clear pour with a bit of sticky head. No big aromas here...I mostly smell the glass, but some sweet malts are coming through.
Taste is ok...sweet honey or candied nuts/fruit. A bit of sweet barley and a hint of brandy-like booze.
Its an easy drinker for being 9abv.
Ok brew...not worth a special trip for.

Originally reviewed April 5, 2007. Swingtop hand-bottled pour via Clark. Thanks! Aroma wafts forth with some port-like malt and candied apple and a bit of pecan skin. Sweet, yet supple and calm, with slight restraint. Pours a deep golden hickory hue, with a faint wisp of off-white foam. Flavor finds a middle road of caramelized malt amongst nipping yeast esters and sweet apple notes. Heat warms a little more than I would like, detracting from the low key malt characters, which get a little drowned out by the alcohols. Finishes in a leafy fresh smack. A hint of oak and sea salt. A perfect handbottling one would say. Maybe a little still and not head-raising, but there weren’t any dying oxidative characters or staleness. Well done.

From growler purchased evening before trying.

Pours reddish mahogony with a thin swirl. It has a nice color, I'll almost forgive the lack of head retention considering style and the growler.

The smell is of fruitiness and sweet candy under a blanket of peppery alcohol.

The taste is boozy, but not too sharp. Carmalized malt. Toffee with some general fruitiness. Some balancing hops come into play to control sweetness from malt and alcohol. The alcohol is not overbearing, but does seem to mask some of the flavors.

Light-bodied for the style. Some warming alcohol sticks around, but that's about it.

Its light body does not help its drinkability much, as it is not enough to support it. The flavor is decent, but could use more body. It does become a bit tedious to drink.

Well I know this brew is fresh. I saw a barleywine listed on the fermentation tanks a while back and it wasn't on tap yet as of last week. Saw it on the sign above the bar when I stopped in to get my growler filled tonight. I was going to grab a session brew but that idea went out the window. Heeeere goes.

Growler filled about 20 minutes ago poured into a snifter glass.

A - Definately passes the eye candy test. A glowing orange-red with a nice sized tan foam head. Really a beautiful color. Lots of lacing on my glass.

S - Loads of sweet malts and alcohol with some fruity aromas. A nice smell.

T - A fruity taste with a lot of booze in the flavor. The finish is quite bitter, with some hops providing flavors.

M - The beer loses out a little here. Not a full enough body for the flavor. A but thin and watery in the mouth.

D - Needs more body to let you chew on all the flavors. A decent barleywine but nothing mindblowing.