Barley Wine Ale
Lervig Aktiebryggeri

Way too thick and chocolate

 

Pours a cloudy, brown color. 1/5 inch head of an off-tan color. Poor retention and poor lacing. Smells of bourbon, sweet malt, slight roasted malt, slight vanilla, and alcohol. Fits the style of an English Barleywine. Mouth feel is smooth and clean, with a low carbonation level. The alcohol warmth is quite strong. Tastes of bourbon, alcohol, sweet malt, hint of vanilla, hint of roasted malt, and a hint of chocolate. Overall, weak appearance, decent aroma, good feel and body.

 

 

 

A - Dark brownish-red pour into a snifter, a small beige head immediately becomes a ring and pretty much stays that way. Bits of lace here and there, legs on the glass, some sediment at the bottom.

S - The nose is pretty great with a good mix of bourbon and barleywine flavors. Butterscotch, caramel, vanilla, dark cherry, dusty oak spice, alcohol, maybe some earthy hoppage there as well.

T - A bit more of a bourbon takeover here but still quite good. Lots of oak wood, straight-up bourbon and spice, along with caramel, brown sugar, some chocolate tobacco, some dark fruit, slight hops. It somehow falls apart a little randomly during the finish.

M - Very oily smooth and sticky sweet with low-end carbonation. Actually quite drinkable for 13%, lots of bourbon but not very boozy.

O - Pretty nice, I do wish the taste was a bit more balanced/put together, but the bourbon barrel is really nice, and combined with a barleywine definitely brings on lots of good flavors. Definitely has the 'English' barleywine feel rather than American too which is nice.

 

My first from this virtually unknown brewery, this little gem sends tingles up through the nose on a first whiff, flaunting aromatics of caramel, wood and ethanol on a backdrop of pastry and spices.

At the mouth this beer is very heavy, almost viscous, but with a short after taste, very soft carbonation and of medium high bitterness. It feels - at the mouth - like I would imagine a Heather pyment to taste: Full; With strong notes of wood, smoke, spice, dark fruit and molasses and even the most pleasant touch of mint like notes in the backend.

Glad I found this one since I had almost given up on Barley wines, a style that I feel is very often dishonored by underwhelming glorified malt liquors that proliferate on the craft scene.

Not the case at all with this beer.