1084 Barley Wine Ale
Ipswich Ale Brewery

 

 

For my 400th review I wanted to drink something special. I found in my beer cellar this 10 year old 1084 Barley Wine that a friend had given me a few years ago.

The beer pours a flat, slightly hazy dark copper color with no head on top. The aroma is sweet malt with a strong presence of citrus and alcohol. There's a hint of apple in there too.

Each sip of this medium to full bodied beer is very smooth and slightly chewy. The flavor still holds barley wine characteristics, sweet pale and caramel malt, toffee, orange citrus, dark fruit (cherry?) and a taste of alcohol. It finishes slightly medicinal and once gone the citrus and sweet malt linger on the palate.

This beer held up pretty well for the past 10 years. It's still drinkable and tasty. I wish I had one fresh back in '99.

Totally opaque murky weird yellowish brown, no head at all. Obviously bottle-conditioned. Citric (pineapple, lemon) and floral aroma, buttery caramel bread and mostly lemon cake components. No surprises at all on the tongue, it tastes exactly what it smells, lemon cake and pumpkin seeds. Sour doughy yeast lends oxidation notes in the finish. Thin body is completely still and lifeless. Uninteresting first Ipswich experience I fear though this bottle had obviously suffered from its 9 years.

hazy copper color with nearly no head, and what little it has doesn't last long. pleasant apple, spice, buttersctoch and grainy aromas, hints of lemon, chocolate as well. the taste is very similar to the smell, with a sweet chocolate taste more apparent than in the smell. a little bit of hops towards the finish balance things a bit. thick body with very light carbonation and quite dry. the dryness appeals to me, but i wish there a little more carbonation. overall i feel it deserves a little more credit than most of these reviews give it, but it also seems that ipswich (mercury) may just be being somewhat inconsistent with this. in any case, the bottle that i had is really a pretty good barley wine.

This beer poured a muddy, dishwater brown with little to no head. No lacing as I drank it. Smelled of avacado and grapefruit. Little flavors as I drank it, leaving some grass and lemon flavors. It was not warming or bold as the cannister "warned".

Pass on this one

Dark tan in color with little to no head. The smell is very powerful. Caramel, candy, sugar and malt all come through. The taste is very mellow. I don't know if it is because they haven't brewed this beer in awhile and my bottle is old. The texture and mouthfell is very thick.

Malty and thick with apples alcohol coming through more towards the end.

I would honestly say pass on this one if I were you. There are many other barley wines that I like.

Looks like liquid caramel. Opaque and rich, with a frothy white head. Aroma is pretty damn hoppy, with a lot of malt. A generally big smell all around, with hints of estery fruit, some caramel, and plenty of herbal hoppiness. Flavor is rich and powerful, with a big hop bite, coming through more citric in the taste. Still some herbal qualities, but lending mostly a grapefruity flavor with a very sharp bitter finish, mingling with a strong alcohol presence. I'm not detecting much in the way of breadiness, like most of the raters here. Malts are rich and well done, balancing the hops well. Estery apple and pear, with a bit of caramel, big bodied, although perhaps a little thinner than what most american breweries are doing to barleywines these days. I personally think it's well done, subtle and understated, leaning perhaps less towards american extravagance, in terms of barleywine style.

I don''t know how old this was, it was cellared by a friend for a while and then given to me. Looked like poorly mixed iced tea, lot''s of yeasty bits floating about. Caramel and tobacco aroma, watery mouthfeel with slight caramel and tobacco flavor. Not all that impressive.

Presentation: 1/2 pint clear bottle, with a transparent label and gold writing, enclosed in a black cylindrical box - similar to a short, fat, cardboard, poster holder. "1084" denotes the brews original gravity, as stated on the back label.

Appearance: Thick consistency, hazy, orange/amber in colour. Big, clear bubbles cling to the sides of the glass.

Smell: Big in the nose with ripe, fruity esters and a strong malty-caramel presence.

Taste: This tastes as it smells, but, with a pronounced malt that is grainy and lends the brew an underlying dryness throughout. The brew goes from bitter, to fruity, and an alcohol spice shows in the end - warming the body. The fruity ester might be mistaken for sweetness, however, this brew is definitely leaning on the bitter and dry side - make no mistake of that. Not to be forgotten: a touch of caramel attempts to make itself known amongst the chaos of flavours.

Notes: A unique barley wine due to its dry character. This is rarely seen in barley wines and probably a sign of a low finishing gravity (more alcohol). An incredibly complex and flavourful ale. We'll experiment next time and let the bottle age for a couple of years.