B.O.B. 2 (Big Ol’ Barleywine)
El Segundo Brewing Company

Pours a dark ruby with a thick fog for transparency. Head is a finger of khaki foam that bubbles down quickly. Aroma is big fig, raisins, molasses, toffee, and dates with mild toasty, caramely, and bready malts behind. Hops start creeping into the nose as the beer warms, delivering notes of pine, resin, and earth. Rye whiskey is subtle and subdued, but present. It adds a small playful push of heat at the end, before drying out the initial sugary notes. Flavor profile is raisins, fig, dates, molasses, caramel, candied sugar, and rye whiskey. It comes on strong, with a semi-sweet start that never dips into dessert territory, but is firmly strong. It's undercut by rye whiskey, which adds a swell of heat. The dynamics between the two are marvelous, working in tandem to reward and sip, then slap the tongue. Despite the ABV, heat is subtle, rising at the back of the throat long after a sip - somewhat like a quality hot sauce, in which it doesn't immediately hit the hot notes, allowing the pepper heat to build long after a bite - only in this case, the heat is soothing. Mouth feel is medium-thick with a still, crushed velvet texture. It lands pretty flat, which could be due to the alcohol content, but isn't totally still. Overall, a resounding barleywine that is absolutely loaded with notes, and yet focused simplicity on the style. Rye whiskey is paired well with this one to dry out the finish via a swell of dry rye heat.

Served in a 15.5oz Speigalau tulip from a 375mL bottle.

 

Poured from fridge temp into a snifter. Pours very dark brown with little head. The nose is incredible. Lots of toffee and whiskey. This immediately screams English barleywine. Lots of malts, some vanilla, and so much dark fruit. Freshly picked figs, plums, and blackberries. Also getting a bit of nuttiness. Hops do start to come through after a few minutes.

Taste: Holy crap! This is insanely good. Thick toffee, chocolate, whiskey, wood, malts, bread, sweet candy, and lots of dark fruit. There is a bitterness on the back end and aftertaste that wouldn't necessarily come through on an English barleywine, but I'm sure we can attribute this to the spicy rye influence. It's a wonderful addition. That said, this is very much a big English barleywine with a really strong whiskey influence.

Mouthfeel and overall: Mouthfeel is right where a barleywine should be. Super smooth and medium bodied. Overall, I absolutely love this beer. Rich and complex. Deep flavors that mingle perfectly together. I'm getting more!

Sweet, caramel malty, brown sugar and molasses, and bourbon/whiskey barrel nose on this one! Taste follows with a caramel malty, toffee, and hint of dark fruit finish...some boozy heat shows up on the backend as it warms, but, it is to be expected with such a big ABV. This is really good stuff!