#Mashtag 2015
BrewDog

Really dark for a barleywine. I t looked more like a stout. Good nose of caramel sweetness and toffee. It had a nice bitter bite with a sticky sweetness that a good barleywine should have.

 

 

A 330ml bottle with a BB of July 2020. Acquired ages ago from the Brewdog webshop and stored in a cupboard - let's see how it ages. As always this beer was created through crowd-sourcing; the result in 2015 was a black, US-hopped barleywine.

A: Poured into a Duvel tulip. A very dark brown hue that appears pitch black in the glass. Produces a large head of creamy light-brown foam that persists for a few minutes before reducing to a patchy surface layer.

S: Aroma of rich dark malt with hints of roasted grain, molasses, liquorice, pine resin, subtle weed, vanilla, faint coffee, ale yeast and a warming whiff of booze. Complex and delicious - very nice.

T: Tastes of robust dark malt with notes of roasted grain, molasses, pine resin, mild weed, subtle coffee, a hint of chocolate, vanilla, vague liquorice, ale yeast and a lingering boozy finish. A powerful, malty bitterness upon swallowing. Fantastic.

M: Mouthfeel is smooth and tingly, with soft carbonation and great body. Aftertaste of bitter roasted malt, subtle pine resin, molasses and yeast.

O: A superb brew that seems to have aged really well. I suspect that this may have been aggresively hoppy when fresh, but now it slides down like a dream. Looks great, while the aroma and flavour are a balanced blend of dark malt notes, pine-laden hops and yeast. Lovely silky body. Simply excellent - if you happen to have one in your possession it's drinking well now.

 

L: Jet black color, one finger brown head, superb lacing, minimal carbonation.

S: Sweet, sour, wine, booze, kind of medicine aroma.

T: Sweet, bitter, coffee, malty. Bitter aftertaste.

F: Great mouthfeel, carbonation pushes flavors into palate. Very boozy though, definitely not a summer beer.

O: Nice beer but feels very boozy. I won't be buying it again but would happily drink it if offered.

 

330ml bottle from Brewdog.com (£3.20):
A very nice Brewdog beer, maybe not quite as good as their 2014 edition of this one but good nonetheless. To be honest I was expecting something a little more from this one, particularly given it was so strong but it didn't quite match up with some of the other strong Belgian beers I sampled over Christmas really; hopefully the 2016 edition will be more like 2014 but either way this was still a great beer.

 

 

 

From XXXII. In Teku glass. Watching Sons of Anarchy 1x12. Ive really enjoyed this brew. Smells good, its abv isnt noticeable in the taste and, above all, has a great feel, maybe because of the vanilla

 

 

 

 

Dark brown color with milk chocolate head. Aroma has nice chocolate and caramel notes with a fresh thang probably coming from the hops. Taste starts quite balanced with chocolate, dark fruits, nuts and in the finish it gets bitter with deep roasted coffee notes. Medium-heavy body with a appropriate amount of carbonation. Doesn't feel like a barleywine but it's a quite good imperial stout.

A: Black with a quickly dissipating head which reduces to a small rim.
S: Piney hops.
T: Bitter innitially, then pungent liquorice punches through. Very bitter actually. It's a strong black IPA. The orange marmalade becomes apparent after not long. Much better when close to room temperature, by which time I'm half sozzled.
M: Rather fizzy, leaves a little to be desired.
O: Pretty good.

 

From 10/10/15 notes. On tap at Brewdog Cardiff in Wales, keg beer.

Pours a dark brown, almost black, with an inch of dark tan head. Lots of chocolate, roasted malts, oak, alcohol, toffee, and bourbon. Thick full body and low carbonation.

Overall the best beer I had from my trip to Brewdog....worth checking out.

 

 

Poured into english pint.
Jet black opaque beer with excellent 2 finger tan head, good retention and laces.
Aroma - american hops at first, pine, mango, citrus, roasted malts (not very wide spectrum, but assertive), toffee.
Taste - nice hybrid of american hop characters, roasted stout tones and common barleywine maltiness, both bitter and malty. Nice and weird try!

 

 

 

 

 

Poured in a teku glass from 330 ml bottle. Well, this is a quite confusing specimen. No liquid has ever been less transparent than this. Pure black. The head is the color of brown sugar and does not take a long time to dissipate. The smell is pretty weird for the "style". This thing has a very hoppy aroma, earth types, only a faint malt backbone (strange for a barleywine) and some mango, or even blood orange juice, timidly appearing from the distance. The taste is pretty much in line with the aroma, maybe a little bit hop forward but not very dry, quite bitter and lasting on tongue for a long long long time. The mouthfeel is relatively rich but all these notes are fighting against each other! Well, I got that the beer is experimental and everything, but this unicorn is a punch in the face to harmony. However, it still is a quite enjoyable, even if unidentifiable, type of beer/experience. Let's see what the next polls suggest next year.

 

Dark, sweet, vanilla. Really alcoholic finish with subtle berries and coffee.