Life Volume 2
Breakside Brewery - SE Taproom

 

Appearance: Pours tea colored wth a one finger head that fades to a ringlet and archipelago; streaks of lacing linger

Smell: Toffee forward with raisin and fig supporting

Taste: Dark fruits dominate, with raisin and fig prominent; the toffee adds an underpinning sweetness; there is a hint of chocolate, in the middle, along with an earthy hop bitterness that lingers into the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with moderate carbonation

Overall: There are a number of flavor elements going on here that make this an interesting American Barleywine; it doesn't pack the massive malt and hop profile I was expecting but it is still quite nice

Thanks, muchloveforhops3, for the opportunity

Life Volume 2 – from Breakside Brewery. Acquired from @muchloveforhops3 in BSBIF #1. Reviewed 12/01/24 (Review 3217). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Undated bomber. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Served at 56.3 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 58.1 degrees F.
Appearance – 4
First pour – Medium Amber (SRM 12), clear.
Body – Ruby Brown (SRM 24), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, ruby and nearly clear.
Head - Average (Maximum 3.7 cm, aggressive center pour), beige, high density, average retention, dropping to a 0.5 cm crown, and rocky complete cap.
Lacing – Fair. A small piece of torn curtain remains.
Aroma – 4 – Weak toffee. No yeast, no hops, no malt, no alcohol (9.5 % ABV as marked on the label).
Flavor – 4 – Begins dry and slightly bitter with a bit of a caramel malt taste. No yeast, no hops. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Weak gastric warming. No ethanol ever tasted. Ends with a light sweetness.
Palate – 4 – Medium; weakly syrupy; soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.75 (After deducting 0.25 point for undated personal container) Seems very weak in both aroma and flavor. In general, a poor successor to Life Volume 1 IMHO.

Many thanks to muchloveforhops3 for this 'Barley!

A - Deep burgundy raison color with dense toffee lacing and light carbonation.

S - Dark fruit, prunes, raisons, light smoke, and figs.

T - While the aroma isn't super prominent, the flavor absolutely is! Big and bold from start to finish Big toasted toffee, light oak smokiness, dark earthiness, dark fruit (figs and dates), and end strong with a piney bitterness that gains momentum after the sip. There's some alcohol that pokes through as well but doesn't detract from the overall flavor. There's a slight bit of citrus surfacing on the very back end of the sip.

M - Silky and thick on the texture and very dry on the back of the tongue, warming in the back of the throat.

O - This is really rock solid and one worth checking out.

we had every intent of ripping all five of these we had in one go, but it was not possible. we just had the first two side by side, and while one was really good, this one is even better, darker, drier, way more distinct, and i think its so cool to use different maltsters for each of these, feature the true heart of the style in each brew, just brilliant from breakside, and for me its hard to imagine any of these beating this one! still some red coming in at the edges but this is a full shade or two darker than the first one, a little shorter head on it too but still some life in the glass, neither are super viscous or anything, and i think at 9.5% the abv is relatively well restrained for a style that can really run it up. i get light smoke, fig, roast, and cocoa in this, prune and volcanic soil, crazy deep and complex, especially coming off the more caramel forward first one, this settles in to a deeper, more wintery groove, the alcohol seems better hidden to my nose. charcoal, date, baking chocolate, and light licorice spice all hit on the first sip right up front, then its a little thinner and even a little bitter in the middle from the dark grain, tobacco and old wood to finish, even faint peat to me, still baked and warm but without much residual sugar comparatively and seemingly a little lesser in body. i love the dry chocolate character on the swallow, the high end and perfectly pulled espresso shot note, the cold weather appeal, and the sort of understated nature of this, old mans reading chair vibes for me, mellow and cozy, and it warms up incredibly well with the booze staying way back. a really cool showcase of this fine malt, and an incredible barleywine overall. i wish we didnt have to tap out on the other three, but i cant wait to crack them. this is lights out!

 

 

Clear, very dark amber with a light head. Aroma is caramel, some grain and yeast, nothing off but nothing dominates. Taste is very malty for a barelywine, not sweet but far from dry. Taste is toffee, malt, some biscuit flavors and dried fruit. The ABV of 9.2% is well tempered.

 

Bottle from Capitol Highway Deli Mart.

Loads of dark fruit. Cocoa, toffee, butterscotch and deeply kettle caramelized English malts. Moderate earthy hops. Almost roast like notes from a stout are present. The palate opens with a rich dark fruit character with dark honey, raisins, dates, treacle. Butterscotch, brown butter, nutty, earthy, toffee. Medium in body, softly carbonated, this is quite excellent.

 

Look: Pours a deep ruby-red with a nice small-bubbled head that quickly builds and immediately begins to settle to a film, leaving a light coating on the glass
Aroma: Mild dried fig, dark toffee, warmed brown bread, piloncillo, some woody notes, light chocolate, subtle earthiness, and dark caramel
Taste: A little earthiness and dried dark fruit open the door and quickly followed by an almost Riesen-like mix of chocolate and dark caramel, along with a little piloncillo and wood. Dark bready malt takes over in the middle and dried figs come out again and go back and forth with deep heated/darkened sugar notes while earthiness weaves in and out throughout. Closes with light ethanol heat and dark fruit
Mouthfeel: Full, smooth, medium carbonation, and smooth on the finish with light alcohol heat present
Overall: This is an awesome beer and a great follow-up to these folks’ first volume. Having had the first in this series and now #2, this is much different but also continues the trend of having tremendous depth of flavor/aroma and of course, well-executed. I found this one leaning much more in the dark sugar direction for flavor and more earthy as well when compared to Vol.1 but honestly, after having both I’ve seen so far, I can say without a doubt that if you can get this or any in the series, do NOT hesitate and thank me later