Chaos
Anchorage Brewing Company

 

Great! Not sure why this is rated low... It's a tasty one! I'd gladly get another!

 

13 August 2020 - Beer #164

Price: $14.99 on Tavour

Appearance: 3 - barleywines are ugly. Don't @ me. Looks like a murky combination of vomit and poo. Yeah, I gave it a 3; life is tough.

Nose: 4 - how can something smell bright? This does. It's fruity and malty.

Taste: 4 - VERY flavorful. Not an amazing flavor, but there's a ton of it. Very malt forward, slightly bitter on the finish.

Mouth: 5 - extremely thick and chewy. It's almost a chore to swallow.

Overall: 4 - an interesting offering. I prefer English-style barleywines, which tend to be sweeter, but this sure is interesting.

Cheers!

 

16 oz can from Tavour. Dark brown, mahogany, flat. Aroma is sweet, honey, brown sugar. Taste brings more sweetness, malty, leather, tobacco. Seems light, but is actually quite potent.

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance: Pours a slightly hazy amber color with a one finger ecru head; spotty lacing

Smell: Caramel, red licorice, rum raisin, orange and pine

Taste: Bitter orange forward with the caramel, red licorice and rum raisin flavors building up the malt base; very piney, through the middle, with intense bitterness; while the malt backbone lingers into the finish, the massive dry hopping overwhelms

Mouthfeel: Full bodied with low to moderate carbonation

Overall: I like a good barleywine but the hoppy flavors here will need some time to settle down to blend in well with the malts

N.B. Re-visiting this almost two years later and, while still bold, the hops have settled in somewhat

 

This one pours a slightly hazy golden brown color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This one smells like sticky citrus, sweet caramel, oak, toffee, fruitcake, molasses, and piney hops.

This is basically a massive triple IPA with a great malt backbone. I would have like it better without all the dry hopping, but it's still pretty delicious. There's a sticky hop sweetness, and a huge boozy and bitter piney hop character. There's also fruitcake, rum, vanilla, oak, toffee, and caramel - just a big and delicious gnarly malt backbone here.

This is medium bodied, with a nice crispness, despite the heft and style. It's a slow sipper, though.

I imagine this will even better if the hop character fades at some point. As it is now, it's good but just way too intense.

Tulip pour. Coloration initially appears dark brown, but when held up to light it's actually deep garnet red. Head dissipates quickly, no lacing.

The flavor is sweet caramel, toffee, dark stone fruits, but the booziness dominates somewhat to the detriment of the rest of the flavor profile. I also pick up some raisin, vanilla, citrus and the finish is bitter, resiny, yet with a lingering sweetness on the lips. Moderate to heavy feel, somewhat syrupy, mildly carbonated.

Has all the elements to be outstanding, so I'll qualify my rating by saying the score might be higher if I'd cellared this to give the flavors time to develop.

Ruddy mahogany brown body; thin, patchy and wispy head. Deep, rich caramel and dark pitted fruit smell; old, dried wood buried in the mix. Powerful flavors; heavy, sweet caramel; toffee; licorice; figs; anise; boozy. Heavy body; oily and chewy; heavy residual sugar feel; alcohol heat.

What we have here is dense, oily, boozy behemoth of a beer. If this one doesn't warm your innards, you just ain't right...

 

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a medium to dark orange red with a thin light khaki head that dissipates to patches, then disappears, leaving slight lacing. Aroma of dry caramel malt, plums, orange, citrus hops and a touch of pine. Flavor follows, with dry caramel malt, orange and lemon citrus, dried and fresh plums, citrus and piney hops and slightly astringent oak. Finish is citrus, rind, mixed fruit and lingering oaky tannin character. Medium bodied with light to medium creaminess. It's been a while since I've seen a new American style barleywine and it's great to revisit it. The initial flavor of Chaos is similar to other classics of the style like Double Bastard, but the finish is unique, with interesting tannin notes that are reminiscent of red wine, but a bit more spicy. It's a bit hot at this young age, typical of the style, but very much invites repeated tastings, requiring a little restraint to sip it slowly. I very rarely enjoy red wine notes in ales (although I do like red wine), but this is a clear exception. Anchorage's big beers are tough to come by, but I'm really glad to have been able to try this one. I am not cellaring this style any more because the aged hop flavors are not an improvement to my taste, but I would be curious about how this would age. In the remote chance I get another can, I'll cellar it. Until then, I've really enjoyed this one. This style has become too rare these days.

A: deep mahogany and burnt caramel color. Minimal head, hints of legs as round the edges.
S: lots of hops with deep brown sugar u derneath
T: deep caramel, and toffee. Burnt sugar. Huge juxtaposition with sharp bitter hops. Hops actually hit me first, followed by lingering sugar.
M: sharp wars, mild carbonation and thick chewiness.
O: great New American barleywine. The holidays in a glass