Cold Woods (Ghost Cold Woods)
Adroit Theory Brewing Company

From a pint can into a beer glass.
A dark pour with a red/purple tint, with little head and almost no lacing.
Syrupy sweet, very little barley/beer flavor. Somewhat fruity, grape, cherry, fig come to mind.
Almost no bitterness, the booziness is heavily masked.
The finish is a little cloying, nothing to make me want another.

Fairly mild for an American Barleywine but still tasty. Poured from a 16 oz. can into a pint glass, this beer features a mahogany brown body with lots of reddish highlights coming through when held to a light. The head was fairly small, tan and bubbly with better than average size and retention for such a strong beer. Lacing was a light tan filmy type that covered the sides of the glass, Aroma and taste were both very mild for an American Barleywine. It was malty, slightly sweet up front with hints of toffee and dark fruit (cherries and figs). Pleasant enough. Mouthfeel was most surprising. Very little bitterness and NO harshness or alcohol presence. The mouthfeel was rich and smooth with the richness the only hint that this was a high-octane beer!! I save my high-octane beers for slow sipping at my outdoor fire pit. This one was a good choice.

The pour is breakfast coffee brown with a beige head that just covers the surface and leaves no lacing.
The taste starts sweet, like maple syrup type sweet, and flavor actually. Once it warms up to room temperature, a little bitterness presents itself. It’s a curious take on the style.
The feel is a little viscous, about what I expect for the style.
OA, I enjoyed it, but not really impressed.

 

Cold Woods (Ghost Cold Woods) from Adroit theory. Four-pack of 16 fl oz cans. Ordered 15/04/25, received 10/07/25 from Adroit Theory on-line: $ 31.026 (Including shipping)/$ 0.485 per fl oz. Reviewed 15/07/25 (Review 3547). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Stored at 37 degrees F at home. Served at 55.5 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature is 60.8 degrees F.
Appearance – 4
First pour – Deep Amber (SRM 15), clear.
Body – Brown (SRM 20), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, very attractive red-amber and transparent.
Head – Small (Maximum 0.6 cm, aggressive center pour). Wheat, high density, short retention, dropping to a 0.5 – 1.0 mm crown and a thin, partial cap.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 3 – None
Flavor – 3.25 – Begins slightly sweet with weak generic dark fruit which becomes more prominent is it sits in the mouth. No yeast, no hops. No alcohol (12 % ABV, according to the label). No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Weak gastric warming.
Palate – 3 – Medium: watery side of syrupy: virtually no carbonation remains after the initial pour.
Style: Follows the style guidelines as condensed by BA.
Final impression and summation: 3.25 (After deducting 0.25 point for an undated can) Uncredited label artist. I assume this is fresh because it was just shipped, but that doesn’t excuse the undated can. Looks are deceiving – the beautiful red of the rear-lite glass belies the nearly tasteless, odorless, liquid contained within. This is a very weak example of the usually high quality barleywines that Adroit Theory produces.