Big Bad Barleywine
Allentown Brew Works

 

Poured a reddish copper body with one finger head and minimal lace. Beer is thick and full-bodied and is a smooth, slow sipper comprised of mostly dark fruits and sweetness. The tastes match the aroma as one can pick up sugary malts like caramel and toffee as well as dark fruits like figs, raisins, possible black cherry (highly doubt it but I'm picking up weird things in this beer) as well minor hops that I swear are giving off not only citric notes but touches of grape and tropical. Great balance and ABV kept in check and a very enjoyable beer.

 

 

 

Stopped into ABC for lunch on 06JUN13 enroute to the Reading WWII Weekend. First order of business - a small snifter of their Barleywine. Serving was 12oz, for $7.50.

It was a touch cloudy, and the color was a rich chestnut with fine carbo interspersed in the brew. The head was wispy thin, a fine off-white layer of creaminess with decent lacing. It had a citrussy aroma with some rindyness, though it was a bit restrained. Body was stromg medium-plus, and it was creamy and smooth going down.

It had a good amount of sweetness, with some caramel and toffee notes coating the tongue. Following that was some cherryish charactersitics, with a healthy amount of piney, resiny hops. It was rich and smooth, and a real warmer. I held back a tad on drinkability only due to its pricetag. Otherwise, verry nice! Prosit!!

4.1/5 rDev -2.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

1572

a: Darker for a barleywine, this was a deep ruby color. It was served to me with just a ring of bubbles.

s: Sugary caramel with hints of dark fruit and maybe a little chocolate. Plentu of fresh, resinous hops as well. Hop candy kind of reminiscent of Flying Mouflan.

t: Big and balanced. Sugary dark fruits with tons of caramel as well lots of juicy tropical fruit hoppiness. Not much bitterness but plenty of hop flavor.

m: Big, sticky, and chewy.

o: A nice treat for sure, glad this was on-tap for my visit.

Had this badboy on tap and boy was I surprised! this is an excellent barley wine! very smooth with good carbonation and a fantastic mouthfeel. I would purchase this for sure if it were available in a bottle. So for now it's growlers full of this love potion until they decide to bottle this masterpiece.

Bottom Line: One of the best I have ever had!

This poured out as a copper amber-ish color with a thin white head on top. The retention is minimal, some very light lacing as well. The smell is sweet, some caramel and some hops on the nose too. The flavors of caramel and citrus on the taste. The mouthfeel is heavier, it's got some subtle carbonation. It's very drinkable and at 10% makes this beer pretty dangerous. Overall it's a decent barley wine.

 

 

Appearance is copper with a finger of head that had some retention on the edges. The nose is more reminiscent of an IPA with both pine and hop notes. There is some malt, but the hops are the feature here and provide a bitter and lemony flavor that is quite enjoyable.

This is a very tasty effort, but style-wise it is certainly light bodied for a barleywine. Not to mention, it is dangerously drinkable at 10%!