Tree Of Hope
Tree House Brewing Company

 

 

A - Burgundy color with nice clarity and very thin lacing, no carbonation.

S - Toasted caramel, Bourbon, toffee, and vanilla.

T - Toasted caramel, vanilla, raisins, brown sugar, oak, and Bourbon. Starts sweet, boozy, and ends the same way. Nice lingering dark fruit and Bourbon.

M - Thick, syrupy, and viscous while lip smacking sticky.

O - This is a pretty fantastic 'Barley!! Recommended.

 

 

this is a great beer, I am especially impressed given that I really did not enjoy the base barleywine, tree of life. It has a quite decadent flavor profile, big time toffee flavors dancing around with a chewy/fluffy vanilla character invoking marshmallow and some syrupy/sugary molassess and brown sugar flavor. lots of spice in there, some boozy heat as well which is probably pronounced bc I consumed at room temp. hints of oak and some dark fruit character. overall just has a very dark, charred, decadent feel to it.

overall this one was quite enjoyable, there was a fair amount of heat, which I didn't mind because it balanced out the sweetness. but I expect this might age very well if that boozyness mellows a bit.

Fantastic. I’m comparing this to VSOJ and I think it falls short in my mind but it’s at least in the ballpark. It’s like a superior version of the other Tree of Life blended / port versions I'd had.

Drank from a 12 oz. gold wax dipped bottle purchased at Tree House Brewing Company, Charlton, MA
Served in a tulip

Review #2075

The beer poured a syrupy and viscous, dark mahogany color. A thin frothy cap of light khaki bubbles coated the liquid, but it dissolved rather quickly. No lacing whatsoever.

The aroma was very muted initially and reminded me a lot of another one of Tree House’s barleywines, Tree of Life. Papery notes dominated. Touch of dry yeastiness too. After the beer opened up, a lot more of the nuances I was anticipating appeared. Big dark fruit presence. Booze soaked raisins came to mind. Prunes and dried currants were noticeable too. Good dose of dark brown sugar. Some grade B maple syrup character perhaps as well. Subtle dry, oaky tannins were also detectable.

The flavor profile was outstanding from the start. Super malty and robust up front. Rich caramel malt notes came through big time. Chocolate malts were also noticeable. Dark fruits appeared in the center. Booze soaked raisins, prunes, dates and currants specifically. Boozy, bourbon-barrel notes appeared as the beer moved along the palate. Dry oaky tannins and more sweetness lingered after the swallow.

Terrific syrupy, viscous mouthfeel. Fuller bodied for the style. The liquid contained a fine, subtle effervescence that turned creamy, slick and smooth on the palate. By the drink’s end, the liquid deposited a slightly sticky film on my lips.

Tree Of Hope is a fantastically rich and complex barleywine, perfect for savoring a cold and windy early spring evening. Give this plenty of time to warm up, as the aroma only really begins to shine as the beer approaches room temperature.

 

 

 

 

A: Pours a deep mahogany color with a thin head that sticks around for a good while

S: Lots of toffee, caramel, bourbon, brown sugar and oaky vanilla. Some dark fruit as well

T: Follows the nose. Starts off with a mix of the caramel, toffee, and bourbon. Picks up the brown sugar, oak, vanilla, fig, and raisin. Booze is definitely present but quite mellow. Finishes with lingering caramel and toffee

M: Medium-full bodied with low-moderate carbonation

O: A great BBA barleywine that makes for a perfect sipper. Has a lot of depth and complexities that open as it warms. Highly recommended

 

 

 

 

 

Pouring a cellar temp 12 oz bottle into my snifter. The bottle was purchased at the brewery about 2 months ago and has been in my cellar since its purchase.
The beer pours a clear mahogany color with some ruby highlights. A very small fizzy beige head shows up from the pour but very quickly fades to a single line edge-layer.
the aroma is fairly robust and a rich mix of malty character. I get toffee, light chocolate notes, and some caramel, and this mixes with dark fruit notes of raisin, plums and a decent hit of bourbon too.
The first sip reveals a medium to thick body with sticky texture that coats my palate on each sip. The carbonation is very fine and gentle, if I swish the beer in my mouth it does get a little tingly. Biggest physical trait is coating, my lips actually feel sticky each time they leave my glass.
Flavor is what the nose tells me is coming. I get toffee, some light chocolate, raisins and here there is brown sugar and some bourbon too. the sweeter notes linger after the swallow and this is where I first detect the booze. Some slight warming in my throat after the swallow, seems a little dangerous for a 14.2% brew! no hop character that I pick up. This is a big sticky sweet beer. A very nice sipper for the evening. Glad to have tried this one, and besides the price point, I would drink it again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

100% still. This does not even emit a peep of a hiss upon cracking open this heavily waxed bottle. Nor does it even build a head upon a hard pour. Tree of Hope solely displays a silky smooth surface over a surprisingly obsidian black body with faint mahogany hues. In that way, it's like an Italian barleywine. This makes the body glide, but it's much lighter in feel than your typical modern barrel aged barleywine. With Tree House known for being so extremely verbose and specific in their descriptions, that they did not point out the choice they clearly made here to not carbonate this beer seems like a massive oversight. Based soley off Tree House describing this as "the smoothest," I can't imagine anyone who went out to buy this beer anticipating it to be still. Most people don't have much experience with still or cask beers in general.

Smell is pretty delectable, savory and decadent. The malt and charred barrel work together in bringing forth elements of Riesen, marshmallow, nougat and walnut. A touch of umami in the form of parmesan rind does surface early on, translating oddly on the palate, but that seems to subside as it warms.

Again, it's largely decadent in flavor as well, with dark caramels, charred wood and cocoa dusted date, exhaling hints of coconut flakes after the stinging semi-sticky finish.

I'd like to give this a higher score, but it was not marketed as a still product. As such I'm pitting it against heftier beers, and it falls short against those behemoths.

 

 

 

 

Pour dark reddish brown. Incredible aroma of sweetness dominated by bourbon, caramel & vanilla. Very traditional taste. Take the aroma and a dose of brown sugar. Medium feel. Outstanding barleywine.

 

I am probably the least qualified person to post the first review of a Tree House barleywine; I have had very few of the style in my life and it isn't always really my thing; this reminds me of a cask of liquid brown sugar