Aqua Regia
Off Color Brewing

 

Aqua Regia from off color. 12 fl oz can. Received from @Whyteboar in Barleywine and Stout BIF #2. Received 22/02/25, reviewed 23/02/25 (Review 3454). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Undated can. Stored at 39 degrees F at home. Served at 55.2 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 61.7 degrees F.
Appearance – 4
First pour – Pale Amber (SRM 9), cloudy.
Body – Pale Amber (SRM 9), opaque. Under direct light, same with massive amounts of suspended tiny particles. When rear-lite, the body is orange.
Head: Average (3.7 cm, aggressive center pour), khaki. High density but immediately opening. Average retention, leaving a 0.7 – 1.0 cm undulating crown and a thin, partial cap.
Lacing – None
Aroma – 4 – Distinct caramel. No hops, no yeast, no ethanol (9.0% ABV, as marked on label). No disulfide or diacetyl.
Flavor – 3.75 – Not as sweet as the nose lead me to expect – rather neutral in fact. Does not follow the nose – no caramel but some honey instead. No fruits other than some extremely weak apricot. No yeast, no hops, no ethanol. No disulfides, no diacetyl. Initial gastric burning which mellows out, surprising at only 9% ABV.
Palate – 4 – Medium; short of syrupy; soft carbonation.
Style: Follows the loose style guidelines as condensed by BA.

Final impression and summation: 3.75 (After deducting 0.25 point for an undated personal container) I detect little to no fruitiness that would be typical of a barleywine. This brew is not unpleasant, just not what I was expecting.

 

 

A: medium brown in color with a soft light tan head.

S: sweet with hints of spice, dried dates, and raisin.

T: sweet with dried fruit flavors

M: medium thick feel with moderate carbonation.

O: I can dig it. Sweet and malty.

Orange murky-opaque body, tan head. Really nice how this english barleywine that shows off the barley, slight pine hops, and orange with caramel malt backing in both smell and taste. Smell also has vanilla, honey, dark grain, and earth. Taste has floral tones, faint apple slice, and estery booze. Dries out throughout the sip but still is on the wet side, larger body yet not heavy, simpler and not super refined

 

Pours a clear amber color thin off white head not much lace.

Aroma is fruity sweet apple, orange, raisin bready malts, candied sugar fruits, light smelling. Nose is more Triple then BW for me.

Taste follows the nose mainly, a little bite of malty caramel you wouldn't find in a Triple otherwise if the can was not saying its an English Barley Wine I would say this brew is an American attempt at a Triple. Maybe that is what Off Color Brewing does? who knows.

Mouthfeel is lighter and not as sugary as it should be for the style.

Overall this is not a Barley Wine not sure if they purposely do this as a gimmick but was kind of wanting a thick malty sugary English BW not a lighter fruity Triple.

A - Pours a clear amber with a with a fizzy off white head. The head fades into a thin ring leaving some light clingy lacing.

S - Aroma is candied orange peel, dark bread and honey.

T - The taste is honey, dark bread, apple, raisins, candied orange peel, black peppercorns and light bitter hop bite in the finish.

M - Medium body with medium carbonation. Soft mouthfeel with a slick dry finish.

O - Solid English barleywine. Unique flavor profile. Super easy drinking.

Transparent, hazy, copper. Small off-white head. Good retention.

Smells like honeycomb, caramel, spent grains, breakfast cereal, candied papaya, hay, clove.

Tasted follows; angel food cake smothered with honey, caramel, candied papaya, cereal milk, hay, pepper.

Smooth and silky feel, oily, medium-light carbonation. Finishes clean despite its sweetness upfront.

A good English barleywine. Definitely recommend!

 

Nice golden brown color. Not much aroma, just a vague hoppy sense. Taste is honey and dark bread with a slight hop kick. Body is syrupy but somewhat thin for a barleywine. Not bad but not a beer I will not seek it out.

 

Poured from a 12oz undated can, cloudy, very pale orange with a khaki head that faded quickly to a ring, no lacing. Fruity aroma, some orange peel, tastes are similar, some light sweetness. Smoth creamy texture

 

Released 10/27/23; drank 11/13/23 @ the Yarchives.

Semi-opaque orange/brown appearance.

A rough pour yielded a HUGE khaki head; strong, frothy lacing remained.

Cream soda, oak & leather notes in the nose.

Creamy medium thick mouthfeel.

Cream soda flavors up front; mild oak & faint leather notes on the finish.

Pleasant & easy to drink.

 

Typing on my phone. At the taproom.

Mostly clear, lightish amber. Maybe 1.5cm head, dense and creamy. Pretty smell is oaky, light toast. Almost a maple sweetness. Honey on dark bread. Mouthfeel is hefty but not heavy. Very nice.

Released yesterday. Today I bought a 4-pack of 12 ounce cans (not 16, thank you!) at Mousetrap.
As diverse as OCB's portfolio is and as high-quality as most of its brews are, it is still ambitious to take on this most traditional of styles. And as usual, OCB did more than a pretty good job.

Aqua Regia is a very good EBW for a 10 year old micro... particularly one that specializes in saisons (and being funny about it; that is, no stiff upper lip per the Brits.) Anyhow, Regia Looks a nice autumnal amber. Smells are full-on Christmas fruit cake, though moderated and not intense. With only modest hints of 9%, Tastes are balanced; except possibly in the finish which has some hops (or is that the Tellicherry pepper) that could be less persistent. In my mouth, rich but not syrupy; certainly not too viscous, the mistake micros often fall into during their early efforts to brew this delicate style.

As I often am, I'm impressed with OCB. Healthy Overall Hugs for every thing OCB does. And this sipper worked well with chocolate and a pumpkin tart. I will drink a second can side-by-side with one of the style's classics so I can make more meticulous suggestions. Cheers !

11/9/23 Well, I didn't drink Aqua next to a classic in the same evening as suggested. (And I don't know how I could suggest such a difficult task given my age.) But I will think about having other EBW drinkers over to help me with the comparison.
P.S. What are those laboratory mice making ?