The Vermonster
Rock Art Brewery

19.2oz stovepipe can from the Burlington Co-op. Dark amber pour with a light airy head. Aroma is malty, notes of caramel, light hops. Taste is malty and sweet, leathery. Doesn't finish well.

 

Can purchased at The Reservoir in Waterbury, VT.

This one pours a fairly dark brown color, with a small white head, and a good bit of lacing.

This smells just so abrasive, like a hoppy brick to the face - I would have assumed a West Coast triple IPA on the nose, and not the barleywine that this is supposed to be. It's just so abrasive and boozy.

This was absolutely a mistake to order. I already don't like something like Bigfoot all that much, but can appreciate what it is - this is like if you took all of the subtlety and redeeming qualities out of Bigfoot, and you were just left with stale, piney, dry, and prickly hop flavor. Whatever malt character there is here doesn't really make any impression, other than stale sweetness. Even American barleywine is supposed to have rich malt character alongside that hop character - this is just so out of whack.

This is super boozy, and just abrasive and super drying on the palate. There's very little pleasant drinkability to this one.

This was a complete shot in the dark, as I loved the idea of a 19.2oz stovepipe of barleywine for $8. It gave me an instant headache, and was just overall a very bad choice.

 

 

 

19.2oz can. Poured out a clear, dark burgundy color with a large, khaki-colored head of foam. It left sticky trails of lace on the glass. This smelled malty with toffee and caramel. A big boozy malt bomb of a barleywine with piney bitterness and so much toffee and caramel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a very dark caramel color, almost a red ale. Very malty aroma. Overly bitter beer, not my favorite. At one time, in 2010, I thought this was the best beer ever. Then 6000 breweries opened up. I can’t believe they still brew this stuff. Time to evolve...

7/13/18
Bomber, no date
3 rating

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured into a chalice, the appearance was a nice dark ruby red/rugged brown color with a finger's worth of white foamy head that glistened as it slid off. Sliding stringy lace.
The aroma had a nice blend of tobacco leaf, earthy to grassy hops, smooth caramel/toffee malts, a hint of vanilla, light cocoa powder, light raisins, a whiff of dates and ended with a little bit of black cherries.
The flavor was gently sweet with the expected dryness of the malts from that "tobacco leafy" yet expected taste. Which all came together to follow through into the aftertaste.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied with a fair sipping quality about it. Normal dryness from those hops distracted the mobility of the smoothness along my tongue. Carbonation and ABV felt as projected.
Overall, very well done American styled barleywine brewed by an American brewer that actually holds up longer in one's cellar than a lot of other American Barleywines.

2013 bottle. Pine, milk chocolate, and roasted barley. Earthy malt profile. Large amount of bitterness, but it's fairly reigned in. Definitely toned down with age. Semi dry finish. Like this more with a bit of age on it. Too harsh Fresh.