Hellcat
Sanitas Brewing Company

a punishingly sweet barleywine, i appreciate its complexity, advancing the english style quite a bit i think, but there is just too much residual sugar for this beer to be appealing to me. its a little darker in color, heavier crystal malts in here give it a lot of richness and that deeper amber hue. patchy tan sits on top. it smells like toffee and baking spice, gingerbready almost for a second, but that goes away, leaving a layered grain base that shows everything from red apple to cinnamon in the nose, very autumnal, weird this time of year, at least aromatically. the taste is similar, less spice more sweet, molasses and brown sugar rawness, and that sticky almost island sweetness goes all the way through. slight toasted element, which is awesome, but i really dont get the english yeast. is it english style because its not hoppy? or is there really an english strain in here? its tough to tell because of the booze and sugar in the end, seems sloppy in the finish. tastes good, but the mouthfeel makes it tough to drink much of. maybe some age would help it? either way, interesting beer, but not my favorite from sanitas.