Barleywine 2010
Boquébière

500ml bottle into an Old Engine Oil snifter. Thanks to Tony for sharing this; who isn't excited by an obscure French Canadian Barleywine?

A: Crystal clear ruby body with a finger of hugely froth light-brown head. Looks too carbonated, but it's pretty nevertheless.

S: Dark fruits, light toffee, and some weird, funky herbalness. Strange hops? Spicy alcohol? Huh. Not great, but solid and interesting.

T: Toffee sweetness up front, some nice fruitiness thereafter, and a boozy, spicy finish. Again, solid but uninspiring.

M: Sticky medium body, moderate carbonation. Soft and frothy.

O: The earlier reviews led us to expect the worst, and we were kind of hoping for a spectacularly bad beer; thus, it was almost a letdown to find that this was a perfectly serviceable B-wine. I wouldn't seek it out, but it's far from a bad beer.

Cheers!

Thanks to Hoppypocket for this one.

Appearance. Pours a thick deep amber with a big 3 finger, light orangy-tan head. Looks good.

Smell. Cola, oranges, maraschino cherries, caramel and booze. Man, this stuff smells great. I think I've been smelling it for 15 minutes now...

Taste. Massive sweet caramel, some orange rind, pretty boozy. Starts out good, but there's an herby, floral bitterness in the end which I didn't enjoy very much.

Mouthfeel. Full bodied with medium-low carbonation.

Overall. After being one of the best smelling barleywines I've come across, I was bummed to find that the taste didn't live up.

 

 

A: Reddish brown opaque beer with tan head. The head looks creamy, has really good retention and lacing.

S: Yoonisaykul described the aroma pretty perfectly. To quote him: "Smells very good. Rose water and Bottlecaps candy. Some of the most delicate Barleywine smell I've encountered. Root beer. Little bit of woodiness in the back." I'd only add that there seemed to have fresh mint in the smell as well as some caramel.

T: This is where the problem is at. Massively sweet with a very very strong caramel malt backbone followed by vanilla and maple syrup. As with their Belgian IPA, there is really a big imbalance between bittering hops and aroma hops. Way too bitter for the sake of the beer. The hops are very dry, herbal and earthy, which do not fit at all with the big sweetness of the beer. Also, too much alcohol in the taste. Some molasses, woody tannins, nuts and leather.

M: Sticky medium body with medium to heavy carbonation (stinging like carbonation). Really off base here, would need more like an heavy and smooth carbonation which would have might reduced the perceived intensity of the bittering hops.

O: A beer I won't have ever again. Not impressed at all with this beer except for the fantastic smell.

Been a while since I've tried anything from this Sherbrooke brewer. As a matter of fact this is my first time reviewing anything boquébière (on BA anyways).
Very eager to try this warm up a little since I'm freezing my ass off next to my fermenting Kölsch which I'm trying to keep around 15oC F while watching the month's 3rd snowstorm.

A- Watch out: Head alert. Tons of tan head in my small snifter. Pretty compact and creamy. So hazy it's opaque, brownish amber. Enough wispy lacing to satisfy.

S- Smells very good. Rose water and Bottlecaps candy. Some of the most delicate Barleywine smell I've encountered. Root beer. Little bit of woodiness in the back.

T- Malt is quite heavier than advertised in the smell. Alcohol too. Woody finish with a tiny bit of boiled green. Later, with my glass close to room temperature, I got this big, almost disturbingly so, taste of woman's perfume. Ate some bread, thinking it might be something that touched my mouth or lips, still there. Then, thinking it was the glass, I sipped directly from the bottle. There's definitely some crazy perfume thing going on here. A different Barleywine.

M- Big. Very high carbonation with a whole lot of foaming going on. Like expanding foam for insulation (not that I've ever put that stuff in my mouth). Lots of body. A little sticky but still finishes kind of dry.

D- Well... Pretty good I guess. Wouldn't want more than a glass or a pint at most. Boiled veggie taste turns me off.

Different Barleywine. Smells soft but terrific, tastes rough but not the typical roughness you look for in a barleywine. More of a we messed up a bit roughness than a hop, malt and booze in your face roughness, I usually look forward to when reaching for the style.