Barley Wine
The Ale Apothecary

Sampled blind, I only knew it was a barleywine. Wasn't expecting this!

From a 375ml corked 'n caged bottle I was expecting something sweet from Lost Abbey but nope. This is fuuuuuunky. Up front is brief toffee and raisin but then earthy underripe apricots and dry red wine take over. The finish is kind of a musty wood? I have a hard time with descriptors for beers like this. After I adjusted, I really started liking this, thanks Tim!

wow this is a whole different take on the style, not like any other barleywine i have ever had, save maybe some infected stuff from the back of the cellar, but here the funk and sour is intentional, i should not have been surprised with these guys, thats what they do. 2020 vintage, already seems extremely mature to me, lots of wood on this, aged in pinot noir barrels, and in the nose the wine is evident, tannic and jammy, heavy wood to this. really deep malt complexion too, super caramelized to me, rich and long boiled, with toffee and maple notes, molasses and leather, old oak in the mix, pool table felt, mahogany, vanilla, wow. the flavor is interesting because the acidity hits right away its not just a shift in the finish, so it kind of is immediately different and wild, and the acid cuts the heaviness of the grain until the end, it doesnt even feel or drink like a barleywine to me until the very end of it, like the density hits after the swallow. tons of nuance here, raisin, rum, birch syrup, fig jam on dark toast, cherries, almonds, tart berries, its just amazingly deep. the acidity gets more intense as it warms, and with the exposed alcohol is quite a lot, but it works to slow me down and take this in more completely. a truly strange and wonderful example of the style, unexpected but cool, oddly fermentation forward but it works, and the wine barrels really define this. overall a cool experience, monster beer though, and i was happy to have help with the bottle. these guys have some commonality across most of their beers, and its in this one too, woody and acidic and mature, id like to see this one age awhile...

 

 

 

Scrumptious. Nice work Paul.