Life Volume 3
Breakside Brewery - SE Taproom

big boy, a little age in the bottle now, great liquid, smooth and warming to drink, complex, uncommon for barleywine, done with some lighter crystal malt, full character, but lighter in color, less roast and cocoa, more toffee and caramel, although i didnt find this overly sweet as these go, impressive balance, layers of brown sugar, coffee cake, and even sarsaparilla or light spiciness, pretty interesting, and more of that as it warms, yeasty but not quite english, fruity but more than just classic raisin notes, really well composed, such a cool series of beers i am still working my way through! mahogany in the light, a little browner than that in dimmer surroundings, lots of tan head on it, airy and high, pushing two inches with a modestly aggressive pour, nice retention, not real viscous or leggy which i think lends to some sneaky drinkability in this style. i also love it not being barrel aged, plenty of that out there, this is more about the grain, which is what i want in the style most of the time. bran muffin, brown sugar, maple, and prune to me in the nose, light smoke, walnut, and amaretto in the flavor, with dark chex cereal and bread crust before molasses and fig later on, warming alcohol but not fusel, light woodiness even though its not oak aged, husky from the grain with a ton of flavor and good body, mineral forward, soil-esque, nutty for sure, lightly hopped it seems but with enough bitterness, very smooth to drink on, dried cherry and even a granola thing later, really good. good carbonation for the style too, and this seems like it will be good for quite awhile longer in the cellar. what a neat autumnal barleywine, dried red apple late, some yeast, way cool! loved this, didnt need it, but loved it!

22oz bottle. No dating information found.
Darker amber brown colored body, which appears to be mostly clear. Shimmering beige colored head becomes a bubbly cap and ring. Leaves behind a few lacing webs.
Aroma is caramel, dark fruit of prunes and raisins, and lightly roasted malts.
Taste has a lot of chocolate throughout, with sweet caramel mixing in early and prunes/raisins coming in late. Honey sweet with a touch of citrus fruit. Aftertaste continues with the dark fruit.
Medium mouth feel. Some syrup for texture. Higher ABV% is well hidden, but does express as a minor tongue burn. Good carbonation.
Subdued as a whole but still has a range of flavors, with mouthfeel that contributes to the taste experience, and a pretty pouring head.

Bomber at share. Mahogany pour with a beige foamy head. Aroma is malty, molasses, notes of tobacco. Taste is malty, sweet, pit fruit notes, toffee, dry.

Bottled 8th Dec '22. Rated Nov 20th of '23, so take that into account. Rating is as it is now. Been refrigerated the entire time at our home.

Dark amber color, light head. Not much for aroma. Taste is still concentrated, though starting to show signs of age.

Totally drinkable even at 11 months should you come across any.

 

Bottle.

A clear mahogany red with a dense, beige head with good retention and lacing. The nose has a deep, rich, toffee malt character, nutty, mildly butterscotch like with dark sugar candy. Softly hoppy and creamy on the nose with a mildly fruity yeast expression. The palate opens moderately sweet with brown sugar, dark caramel, toffee, a mild fruit note with rum soaked raisins and a dry cocoa like note. The mid-palate has a clean, fruity yeast character. Drying with burnt sugar bitterness on the finish. Creamy, soft carbonation. Very good.

Look: Deep mahogany with red hues in the glass and my pour kicks off a subtle beige head that builds to a lid and quickly settles to a film, leaving a nice ring of lacing behind
Aroma: Red apple skins, plum, warmed brown bread, wafts of piloncillo, raisins, light earthiness, toffee, and caramel
Taste: Toffee along with a little piloncillo hit first out of the gate and quickly joined by a wave of fruitiness that includes apple, plum, and raisins. These develop atop a nice rich bready malt base and some earthiness peeks in from time to time as well until the fruit, toffee, and caramel-led notes return to the forefront on the close. Alcohol is well hidden
Mouthfeel: Full, smooth, medium carbonation, and smooth on the finish with just a kiss of alcohol heat
Overall: This is delicious and another winner. This is, as expected, another tasty and well-made Barleywine and once again, sets itself apart from the previous two iterations with interesting apple/plum/raisin notes and less presence of sweet malt in the form of caramel, toffee, and piloncillo. I would love to do a side-by-side of all three of these but even so, each one, including this one, are phenomenal and delicious takes on the Barleywine style. Recommended