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Great
Alpine Beer Company
- From:
- Alpine Beer Company
- California, United States
- Style:
- American Barleywine
Ranked #4 - ABV:
- 14%
- Score:
- 100
Ranked #149 - Avg:
- 4.52 | pDev: 8.41%
- Reviews:
- 178
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Aug 22, 2022
- Added:
- Mar 01, 2005
- Wants:
- 1,441
- Gots:
- 84
SCORE
100
World-Class
100
World-Class
The base of this beer was available at a couple of festivals as a barleywine named "Good". The remainder of the batch spent several months aging in fresh Jack Daniels barrels and became "Great".
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Montanabeerz:
Rated by Montanabeerz from Montana
4.43/5 rDev -2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Dec 24, 2020
4.43/5 rDev -2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Dec 24, 2020
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by Jwale73 from Rhode Island
4.04/5 rDev -10.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
4.04/5 rDev -10.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
12oz. Bottle served in a Spiegelau snifter. Vintage is probably circa 2014. Pours the color and clarity of unpasteurized apple cider (perhaps a hue darker). Not he, just a thin, broken band around the shoulders. Nose is robust - big hit of figs, followed by ethanol and perhaps a trace of oxidation/soy sauce in the background. Taste consistent with nose - figs are a bit more candied in the flavor profile. Middle is earthy with a suggestion of chocolate and finishes with prunes and a light medicinal bitterness. Mouthfeel is medium in body with a still carbonation. Overall, a little past its prime. Not much of a suggestion of the barrel; however, still quite drinkable.
Aug 22, 2022
Reviewed by jrc1093 from Connecticut
4.44/5 rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
4.44/5 rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
2013 vintage; consumed on 3/23/2022
Pours a stunning pitch-chestnut, an almost inky appearance giving way to slight ruby accents as a bubbly half-finger of pale tan head forms, slowly fizzing out to a sparse cap, expansive, frothing collar, and no lacing clinging to the walls of the glass.
Aroma offers immediate impressions of jammy plum, refining focus to fig, subtle caramel, and toffee over time as an evocative, dark fruit overload springs forth across the bouquet; bourbon on the back end encourages a touch of cherry and lighter cocoa to engage the close.
Taste opens to layers of sugar plum, raisin, dates, and bits of brown sugar, growing in accents of bold fig and burnt caramel into the mid-palate; oaky vanilla meets fruitcake on the back end, while leathery chocolate dusts a barrel edge, with slight bourbon and smoked toffee finishing.
Mouthfeel shows a medium body, dense and concentrated silky textures foundational beneath a low-lying carbonation; smooth, wispy grit guides to a mild twang underscoring a vague, burgeoning oxidation into mid-palate, followed by a mild barrel char and steady warmth on the back end, with some stickiness into the otherwise velvety finish.
Belying most any sense of experiencing time and age, this is a rich, comprehensive American barleywine; a deft composition of ultra-bold fruits, calm barrel inflection, and leathery resins encapsulating a consuming, classic apex of the style.
Mar 24, 2022Pours a stunning pitch-chestnut, an almost inky appearance giving way to slight ruby accents as a bubbly half-finger of pale tan head forms, slowly fizzing out to a sparse cap, expansive, frothing collar, and no lacing clinging to the walls of the glass.
Aroma offers immediate impressions of jammy plum, refining focus to fig, subtle caramel, and toffee over time as an evocative, dark fruit overload springs forth across the bouquet; bourbon on the back end encourages a touch of cherry and lighter cocoa to engage the close.
Taste opens to layers of sugar plum, raisin, dates, and bits of brown sugar, growing in accents of bold fig and burnt caramel into the mid-palate; oaky vanilla meets fruitcake on the back end, while leathery chocolate dusts a barrel edge, with slight bourbon and smoked toffee finishing.
Mouthfeel shows a medium body, dense and concentrated silky textures foundational beneath a low-lying carbonation; smooth, wispy grit guides to a mild twang underscoring a vague, burgeoning oxidation into mid-palate, followed by a mild barrel char and steady warmth on the back end, with some stickiness into the otherwise velvety finish.
Belying most any sense of experiencing time and age, this is a rich, comprehensive American barleywine; a deft composition of ultra-bold fruits, calm barrel inflection, and leathery resins encapsulating a consuming, classic apex of the style.
Rated by DucksFan16 from Tennessee
3.56/5 rDev -21.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
3.56/5 rDev -21.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Canned 11/02/2020.
Feb 13, 2021
Rated by Eyedoc27 from Illinois
4.6/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
4.6/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
2020 in a Can. Very hoppy for a barleywine. Toffee/bread and moderate amount of barrel
Jan 17, 2021
Great from Alpine Beer Company
Beer rating:
100 out of
100 with
766 ratings
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