Massive Madrileno Ale
Cervezas La Cibeles S.L.

label on the back says vintage 01/14, which i think means 2014, so pretty well aged at this point. i love when a little oxidation creeps into a barleywine like this, even though its likely lost some of the hops that probably defined it when it was fresher, i am more than okay with that. this was a nice thanksgiving holiday beer, sturdy and complex, lighter in malt sweetness than most, but still with plenty of depth, body, and character, its just not so cooked down and concentrated. a medium amber color to it, a nice head from the little bottle, and no sediment or anything in it. notes of candied orange, clove spice, and caramel make it seem quite wintery, while some warming booze, brown sugar, and english yeast give it the complexity i look for in the style. its very mellow to me, smooth and well aged now, cool wintery spice, but nothing coming out too much, is so balanced. i like the booze to it, i never mind it in the style, and i like whats left of the hops, it does have a little bitterness that it finishes with. really sold beer, my first from these guys, always so fun to try cool emerging craft stuff from around the world...

Something might be wrong with my bottle but it was almost flat. This extremely sweet beer would be pretty wonderful with carbonation to counter the sweetness but instead it’s one dimensional. I can see the potintial in this if tried with proper carbonation.

A: Pours a murky mahogany in color with light to moderate amounts of gentle visible carbonation along the edges of the glass and a moderate amount of deep garnet red + copper highlights. The beer has an eighth of a finger tall sudsy tan head that quickly reduces an extremely thin ring at the edges of the glass. Minimal amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate to strong aromas of toffee + caramel malts with moderate to heavy amounts of brown sugar sweetness. Moderate aromas of sweet dark fruit yeast - plum and cherry stand out. Hints of floral and citrus/tangerine hops.

T: Upfront there a moderate to strong flavors of toffee + caramel malts with a hint of bready malts, all this with a heavy amount of brown sugar + caramel sweetness. That is followed by moderate flavors of sweet dark fruit yeast - plum and cherry. Finally there is a light amount of floral + citrus/tangerine hops which impart a hint of bitterness which fades away quickly leaving a lingering malty sweetness.

M: Slightly heavier than medium bodied with light to moderate amounts of carbonation. Smooth.

O: Enjoyable but very sweet and a little thinner in body than I was expecting for the style. Nice complexity to the flavors and aromas. For as big a beer as this one is, it hides the alcohol very well under the sweetness - definitely a sipping beer. I would have this one again if I found it.

Hugely sweet, near flat with tons or dark fruit flavors and just a sticky/sweet mess. No bueno.