Coopersmith's Black Powder Barley Wine
Coopersmith's Pub & Brewing

 

 

 

Served on-draught into a midget nonic would-be pint glass at Coopersmith's. Reviewed from notes. Expectations were high given the style.

A: Pours a one finger head of fair cream and thickness, and good retention. Colour is a semitransparent copper.

Sm: Light hints of dark fruit, caramel, and pleasantly handled malt. A mild strength aroma.

T: Nice esters alongside decent caramel and well handled malt. Well balanced and pretty well built. Lots of sugar and malt, giving it a light pleasant sweetness. I like it. No alcohol comes through in the flavours.

Mf: Smooth and wet, but too thick. The mouthfeel suits the flavours in a general sense. It certainly isn't tailored to them.

Dr: A pretty good beer. It's quite drinkable for the ABV. I'd have it again, but I've had far better barleywines. It's definitely worth a try if you come across it.

Served on tap at coopetsmiths, reviewed live:

A n presents a transparent copper color with a one finger white head of fair creaminess. Relatively appealing.

S - caramel, dark fruit, bread and alcohol. Not too much else.

T - sweet malt, caramel, alcohol and bread. Well balanced, but a bit simple perhaps. Good for the styles.

M - very smooth and very wet. Not really applicable.

D - a nice barley wine, but probably not one I'd have again.

Ruby. Dying head. Nose of molasses, honey, oak, sherry and dark fruits. Well aged and melded malt driven flavor. Notes of caramel and molasses, sherry and dark fruits. Well hidden alcohol. Medium bodied but the texture is fairy watery. Still though, like almost every barley wine, this is pretty damn good.

The Black Powder poured copper (?, hard to tell at the bar) with a little head that quickly dissipated to a ring. It had a tart alcohol/sherry aroma. I really like the taste. It's smooth and full-bodied with a taste of figs, carmel and oak with an alcohol finish. This is a nice drinkable barley wine that I like to partake of when in season.