Rest In Peace
CREW Republic

Copenhagen 25/1 2021. 33 cl bottle from Meny, Rotunden, Hellerup. As “Rest in Peace”. Black label in Crew Republic’s usual design.

Pours clear amber with a mid-sized off-white head. Settles as 0,3 cm thick layer of foam covering the surface of the beer. Moderate lacing.

Aroma is medium intense with a strong sweet, malty and boozy odor. Sweet dark fruits. Plums, raisins and apricots. Hints of toffee. Almond and alcohol.

Light carbonation. Medium thick, soft, slightly sticky texture.

Flavor is fairly intense with a strong sweetness followed by a moderate sourish bitterness. Aftertaste is sweet bordering on being sugary. Lingers for a while. Finish is sweet and liqueur-like.

Powerful sweet and with a solid boozy burn.

Bottle. Orange/amber. Slight haze. Wispy beige head.
Sweet aroma of hops and candied barley. Fruity esters apparent.
Candy floss and toffee apple flavour. Sweet at the start and a burnt caramel bitterness at the finish.
Low carbonation. Quite viscous. Soft feel.
Needs ageing to knock off the edges.

P.S. After aging this just tasted old and fusty. Never mind.

Pours a cloudy, dark copper coloration with a reddish hue and a medium, fluffy head, with lots of fine sediment suspended in the glass. Smells of bready, caramel malt, toffee, red berries, with notes of redcurrant and cranberry, as well as hints of pine. Taste is a great balance of bready, caramel malt and slightly resinous, floral and spicy hops, with notes toffee, burnt brown sugar, red berries and lighter dark fruit: redcurrant, cranberry, plum, fig dominating, as well as lighter accents of pine and peppery spice. Finishes bittersweet, with a light bitterness and some toffee, red berries and pine lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium/rich body and light/medium carbonation.

You really have to give it to Crew Republic that they are pretty much the only German craft brewery that features a Barleywine as part of their regular lineup, which is available at supermarkets at a decent price point no less. And you know what, it's pretty nice as well, being a very American example of the style, that is perhaps just a little lacking in richness and mouthfeel, but makes up for that with a decent complexity and great balance of sweet and bitter notes. This never feels too syruppy sweet or boozy, while the bitter hops with their piney and spicy accents act as the perfect counterpoint to the dominating, sweet and fruity toffee, brown sugar and red berry notes.

This is a typical non barrel-aged barleywine, this is strong on the brown sugar, the burnt toffee. The hop presence is not that big but still more than in an English version of the style. Low carbonation, syrupy

 

Enjoyed a 0.33l bottle at Café Frape in Maastricht on 21SEP17. It cost me €6.50.

Served in a shaker pint (oddly!), it was a slightly hazy, deep amber color. Had minimal carbo, a thin, fine, off-white head, and ok lacing. Aroma was on the mild side, with some caramel malts detected. Had a nice body; medium-plus, and it was pretty smooth.

Taste had more caramel and some brown sugar. A bit of fruit appeared, with a smidge of candied apple and subtle fruitcake notes. Finish was a touch earthy. Expected more, but still decent. Prosit!



3.83/5 rDev +7.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75

1952

 

 

Hazy dark orange color with beige head. Aroma has some apple esters, grainy malts and brown sugar. Taste follows with the apple notes, some candied fruits, brown sugar and some earthy/leafy bitterness on the finish. Medium body with a light carbonation. Not bad but it's not really what you would expect from a barleywine.