Barleywine
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

 

 

 

 

(Served in a snifter)
This was only labeled as Barleywine not as subzero
A- This beer has a lightly hazy deep apricot colored body with a thick creamy light tan head that with a top layer of larger bubbles. The carbonation is gentle and the head last for much of the beer.

S- This beer has a nice aroma of sweet lightly caramelized malt notes with a nice finish of soft green hops.

T- The taste of caramel sweet malt has a nice flavor with some notes of brown sugar with it. The flavor is big but not too sweet. There is a slight perfume quality to the sweetness and a nice pine hop support at the finish.

M- This beer has a medium-light mouthfeel with a slippery texture and a nice alcohol heat that supports the taste when it warms a bit.

D- This beer is a classic example of a good barleywine with nice full malty flavor and a softer support of hops and the soft alcohol to wrap things up.

Pours a ruby and light brown in color. Very nice inch of head. Smell is all malt. This is more like an English Old Ale than the American style barleywine, which I prefer. There are no sign of hops at all. Huge in the mouthfeel and the ABV. Decent but lacking in complexity.

Appearance: Pours with no appreciable head, only a tan ring around the edge of the glass. The beer itself is amber in color.

Smell: Smells of licorice and hops.

Taste: Hops upfront, with a slightly sweet malt background.

Mouthfeel: Average level of carbonation. Decent body.

Drinkability: Overall, kind of ehh. Not bad, but not one I will revisit.

Holy english barleywine, batman! This is one malty brew. Smell it and you get: Sweet malt, roasted malt, alcohol, toasted malt, and some more alcohol. Taste it and, yeah, basically the same thing. Not a bad brew, but I thought it could use some more hops to balance out the overpowering maltiness of this beer. Whoa! Then again, that is the whole point of barleywines . . .

Served in a snifter. Dark mahogany color. Thin white head, which disappeared immediately. Not much lacing. Strong hoppy, citrusy aroma, along with some pineey, resiny hops. Caramel, toffee flavor. Not much bitterness for what the aroma suggested. Full body, low carbonation. I can not believe this is 10% ABV, the alcohol is very well hidden. Not an overwhelming barleywine, but a good offer from Rock Bottom. The seasonal, or special beers are what keeps me interested in Rock Bottom.

Appearance - served in a goblet for a classy touch. Low light makes it hard to see if it's anything more than just an opaque black. A thin head sticks around.

Aroma - malty and raisiny sweet as expected, but not real intense.

Taste - heavy malts, good roasted character. Not as sweet as the average barleywine, and a distinct espresso side that rivals the raisiny taste for identity. It's a tasty combination. The stout character wins out at the end, finishing roasty and warm. The 9.5% abv is well-hidden, peaking through only at the start and later as it warms. Light balancing hops at the end are mostly an afterthought but they are there. Doesn't have that world class package but it *is* delicious.

Mouthfeel - very smooth, heaviness is only slightly above average, giving it some added approachability for the masses.

Drinkability - tasty and dangerous, they are smart to serve this in the smaller 10-ounce goblets. Good enough to buy a growler (which'll cost ya' double, BTW).