Apprentice Series Camp Travis
White Birch Brewing

 

 

 

 

Bottle at Alex's Birthday Bash.

A - Pours amber in color, tan head, thin ring.

S - Caramel sweetness, light citrus, oak, booze.

T - Dark fruits, toffee, burnt sugars, oak, and booze. The booze isn't quite overpowering, but it lets you know it's there. The sweetness is balanced between dark fruit & sugary candy.

M - Medium body, good carbonation, rich and syrupy.

O - An average American Barleywine but that's all I really can say about this one. Wouldn't seek out again and would look to something else if I'm wanting this style again. Average(ish)

From Batch #1 dated May 2011. Sampled on March 19, 2012. The pour is brown with reddish highlights wehen held to the light along with a moderate sized head. Loads of malty aroma on this one along with a distinctive berry esther around the edges. The body is smooth but bold. The taste is mellow but pungent, which may seem like an oxymoron. Lots of sweet malts in the beginning with a lingering hop bite fading out at the end. I am glad I waited a few months before opening this one. Nice effort by this first time apprentice brewer.

 

 

 

Batch 1 May 2011
Pours a solid dark brown color with garnet highlights and a vigorous pour coaxes a small head out of this one that dissipates quickly. I could smell sweet candy sugar as soon as I popped the top off this one. Closer inspection reveals a sugary candy like sweetness that reminds me of cotton candy. Cherries, plums, currants fruit things up a bit as well as a touch of ethanol. Slight sherry note as well as some toffee and caramel. Nice nose! Taste is brown sugar and caramel up front, fleeting hints of dark fruit cherries and apricots midway and a bit of warming alcohol finishes us off. Medium to thick body, light almost too light level of carbonation with a sweet almost sticky mouthfeel. Wow, I think a bit of age has really enhanced this brew. I don't remember liking this one as much at the release, although I do remember more carbonation.

Poured into a Portsmouth tulip a dark caramel with a touch of ruby and a thick tan head that sticks firmly.

The nose is caramel malt - not too sweet - molasses, and darker fruit.

A sip is smooth and rich; dark fruit and caramel malt, and a little hop bite at the end that also reveals a nutty/toasty element. The ABV is very well disguised in this one, just a pleasant lingering warmth.

Another very solid Apprentice brew. I think this one is warming up nicely and I bet a year would make it tremendous.

Thanks again, Bobby.

A: The beer pours amber in color with a small off-white head.

S: The nose is very sweet with plenty of toffee and caramel aromas. There's a nice touch of citrus peel, but definitely some booziness and a mild tartness. There are some other fruit notes to it as well.

T: Sweet and very fruity at the front end. There is a lot of caramel sweetness and some table sugar, too. There is an almost pez-like candy flavor, maybe some cotton candy too. Definite alcohol flavor, as well.

M: Medium in body with low to medium carbonation.

O: Just sugary and boozy. Not a big fan of this one.

An aggressive pour yields a big bubbled fizzy 1.5 finger head that fades semi quickly due to big bubbles, then settles, bit of lacing, over slightly hazy dark reddish maroon brown color, almost slight purple rosy color.

Nose is loaded with malts, tons of bright reddish malts, lots of caramel, maple, molasses, bit of reddish toasty malt aromas, bit syrupy and hints of booze, slight earthy chewy hops, light juicy fruit and fruity hops. It has quite a candy like aroma, toffee, nougat, candy everything. Also get a bit of bourbon and hint of oak and some woody esters.

Taste brings lots of bourbon right off, a really nice fresh bourbon flavor and some oak and barrel flavors, bit of wood. A bit of booze comes through the tons of malts and bit of sweetness. The malts bring lots of reddish malts again, lots of caramel, toffee, maple, molasses candy, syrup, candy from candy covered apples. Also some fruits, bright reddish fruits and juicy ripe flavors, apricot, plum-ish, nectarine, bright malts, hard to describe the many components of this. There are also some hops, some spicy, slight earthy and chewy hops, bringing a decent amount of bitterness. Slightly creamy even. Finishes still somewhat sweet but dries a bit, some lingering bitterness and spicy hops as well as hint of booze, the hops even get slightly salty like tasting as they come on a bit strong on the finish and want to get astringent but can't from all the crazy malts, syrups, caramel, toffee, all linger. A bit of the bourbon comes through late as well.

Mouth is bigger bodied, decent carbonation, and some booze.

Overall pretty good, a big barleywine with lots of syrups, caramel, toffee, molasses, bright malts and fruits, really nice bourbon and oak/wood qualities, and even some nice spicy earthy hops.

Picked up two bottles of this at Julio's. One for now, and one for later. Shared with friends.

A - Pours a dark, muddy garnet hue with a nice creamy white head that receeds into a good film.

S - Quite sweet and carmel with some really nice deep dark fruits (figs). Very light hop profile (citrus) too.

T - More of the nose with really good dark brown sugar notes followed by almost sticky sweet dark fruits. Pretty tasty.

M - Really nice and smooth and creamy. Good barleywine with the ABV not that noticeable.

O - Overall a nice barleywine. Looking forward to seeing how it ages.

Batch One, bottled May 2011. Courtesy of VanillaMike.

A - Very murky, muddy brown, with some ruby highlights. Topped by a few fingers of dense, thick, creamy foam. The color is a little ugly, but other than that, this looks great.

S - Caramelly, a little fruity. Sweet, nutty, and complex. Ever so slightly boozy.

T - Quite interesting. Raisins and prunes, lots of nuttiness. Perhaps a touch of floral hoppiness.

M - Really thick and awesome. Viscous, decadent, velvety. Practically perfect.

Overall, this is a really good and interesting barleywine. I'm glad I have the second half of the bottle to enjoy.

Pours a two finger cream head that fades quickly, leaving some lace. Cloudy brown color, ton of yeast left in bottle. Light-medium carbonation and medium-heavy bodied. Hoppy dark fruit nose and flavor is a lot of hops and malt like an imperial IPA, high ABV is hidden. Good barley wine but over priced at $12.35 for a 22oz bottle from Bert's Better Beers Hooksett, NH. Bottled May 2011, batch one, 1140 bottles.

Bottled May 2011
Batch One
Bottle Count 1140
In a tulip glass this beer was a murky red/brown color with just a rim of head.
Nice caramel aroma, some fruit and some citrus.
Mostly caramel taste. Fruity, predominately citrus (orange). Late hops. Alcohol noticeable.
Very smooth. Can tell the alcohol was there, but not intrusive.
Good beer.

Presentation: 22 oz. bomber bottles poured into my Portsmouth Brewery tulip glass. Bottle date listed as May 2011, Batch One. Served at room temperature.

Appearance: Dark brown in color, with amber/red highlights and pours not much of a head at all. What head is present is light beige and has very little retention.

Aroma: Brown sugar, caramel and some really dark fruit notes come through. A little alcohol is present but it works well overall. Some light pine/citrus notes that keep this from being cloying. Also, a touch of the house yeast that gives a slight medicinal quality.

Taste: Nice balance of the strong caramel and dark fruit notes from the malt and the Sorachi hops. It is sweet and fruity, without becoming at all cloying. The house yeast again provides an almost medicinal flavor. It is not my favorite of the notes here, but it is not distracting. In fact, it does a great job of highlighting the other flavors. Nicely balanced and very tasty.

Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with light carbonation. Stays very light overall and doesn't become a chore to drink. really smooth.

Overall, a nice smooth barleywine that I really enjoyed. At no point was this tough to drink. The drinkability really is great. There is also great balance and the malt notes can really shine. The hops are also a great choice. Definitely might pick another up to age. One of my favorite White Birch offerings. I think I enjoyed this more than their BA Barleywine.