Lord Mantis
Enlightenment Ales

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from 750ml into a tulip glass

Appearance: Beautiful. Deep ruby and caramel. Two-finger, very light tan head dissipates rather quickly, leaving respectable lacing.

Smell: Really unique aroma on this. Rich caramel and super heavy fruit on the nose, with a background of Belgian-y esters, with a noticeable herbal hoppiness. When all things are combined into one scent, it's almost reminiscent of bubblegum, which is pretty strange and wonderful. As it warms, the Belgian esters really take over.

Taste: Pretty much follows the smell exactly, very heavy fruit and caramel notes up front, with a secondary palate of dry Belgian esters and herbal hoppiness.

Only criticism I have on the taste is that the alcohol heat is pretty strong on the finish, more than I expected from a 9.7% brew.

Mouthfeel: Big, full-bodied richness at first, followed by a drying finish. A bit more carbonated than I expected, and the dryness on the finish was certainly unexpected.


Ben, I really enjoyed this, as I do basically everything you make. However, I'm not really getting "barleywine" (at least in the traditional sense) out of this, which resulted in a lower rating than I would have liked to have given.

If anything, this seems more like a hybrid between a barleywine and Belgian Strong Dark Ale. Unique and interesting for sure, and had it been categorized and labeled as something other than a barleywine, it would have rated more around a 4.25-4.5 for me.

Overall, another very interesting and boundary-pushing offering from Enlightenment. It's awesome to see Ben able to experiment more now that he has a more adequate working space. Keep up the great work!

(note: I have a bottle that I will age for a year or so. I'm very interested to see what happens)

Poured from a 750mL bottle into a snifter.

It has the type of head I always admire: persistent, chewy and and frothy. Dark oatmeal in color. Dark amber body has a bright, majestic quality. 4.5

The aroma is surprisingly bright and fruity like strawberries, followed by a slightly oxidized and dark fruit character. Earthy and floral notes are found beneath the stronger, more pronounced traits. 3

Another surprise comes with the citrusy and peppery hop/yeast notes that taste Belgian. After this colorful intro, the beer's malt asserts itself with sweet caramel notes that smooth things out before a fruity finish and touch of tartness. 4

The body is big, full-bodied, creamy and thick, but the carbonation and yeast feel give it a unique feel that's not particularly barleywine-like; it's a tad more gaseous than one would expect, though this works. 4.25

First time I've had a hopped-up barleywine with a Belgian feel, but I like and I could drink more.

Batch 1, no bottling date.

A: Pours a deep, dark, reddish-brown. Tall and fizzy light brown head. Head fizzes out pretty quickly. Somewhat spartan lacing but decent retention.

S: Very malty. Loads of caramel. Very sweet. Lots of fruitiness, mainly raisins and some indistinct berries I'd say. Floral too, kinda like rose or lavender or something. Almost perfumey. Light grain alcohol to boot.

T: Again, perfumey. Very much so, lots of flowery tastes right from the get go. Lots of sweetness (mainly caramel) too. But man I swear they dumped a ton of lavender soap in this. Maybe I'm mistakingly identifying something else but I swear I'm sipping a perfume bottle. Heavy breadiness kicks in and then it's more perfume into the finish.

M: Heavy bodied, smooth.

O: Yikes, perfume bomb in this one. Or something that I'm not quite enjoying. Maybe some sort of herbal aspect that I'm misidentifying. But it's not really that enjoyable regardless. Doesn't taste like any english (or american) barleywine I've ever had - and I've had a lot. I drain poured it after a few sips, sorry Enlightenment. I love your other beers but something went wrong with this one.