Orange Giant
Ecliptic Brewing

 

elite old school style american barleywine here, hoppy and bitter, malty and complex, strong but smooth, lots of body, warms up well, real complex from what appears to be a fairly simple ingredient mix, and rightly regarded as a classic, a gabf gold medal winner this year as well, well deserved i reckon. this is somewhat intimidating beer, something i wouldnt have loved in my 20s but respect a whole lot much later in life, ive come around on this style and this approach to the style quite a lot, patience is a virtue with these, and i have more of that now than ever. lovely deep past rusty orange color in the tarnished bronze range, cool orange glow to it, and a lot of puffy off white head for a strong ale like this, off from full clarity but beautiful beer overall. the aroma is immediately bitter, old in a not quite oxidized way but in a way that accentuates the layers of malt in a cool way, somewhat english and bready of course, woody too, like fresh pine boards, hops and malt together, hints of things like almond and cardboard in the grain, maybe toffee and pipe tobacco too, juniper and sage and herbal intensity to the hops, high alpha, some alcohol present too, lots going on but very cohesive, and the flavor follows. woody and dense, bread crusts and honey but not all that sweet, slow kilned cozy character, bran, the darker chex cereal, pine in the middle, bitter and botanical later with some pithy citrus and wintery woodsy character, the hops and alcohol make this pretty intense on the palate. the flavor of brown sugar but this is less sweet than so many of these, bitter linger, some yeast still appreciable in this, like its got some english aspects to it even if its mild in the taste, its not neutral there and i dig it. really good beer, i think a pretty textbook example of this style. would love to try a barrel aged version of it! ecliptic always delivers!

**2022 Vintage
Look: Amber in the glass and on the pour, which yields a booming dull yellow head to rise up and hold indefinitely, slowly succumbing and ending as a lofty pillow

Aroma: Caramel, freshly baked bread, ethanol, toffee, earthy and resinous hop notes, and light fruity esters

Taste: Whoa. Caramel, toffee, and bready malt combine forces and lay the groundwork as they develop individually and amongst themselves. Sticky, resinous, and pithy hops enter the spotlight and come out swinging with conifer, earthy, and light citrus notes abound that try to counteract the initial malt bomb, with ethanol present throughout. Closes with caramel-slathered bread, resinous hops, some alcohol heat, and a big time bite

Mouthfeel: Full – leaning chewy, medium-high carbonation, and semi-smooth on the finish but with a sharp edge from the hops and alcohol

Overall: I dig it. I’ve wanted to try this beer for years as I respect what they do and love a good Barleywine, so had to finally, albeit on a sad notes now that Ecliptic is closing its doors. A tasty American-style Barleywine that still drinks young given only one year of age on it, which I like as I prefer the roughness of young examples, but definitely has a more refined profile. Delicious and glad I have two more cans to enjoy

 

Sampling a 16 oz can poured at cellar temp into my snifter. Beer has been in the cellar since completing a trade with @Zdraco Thank you! This is a 2020 vintage can.
The beer pours chestnut to copper color with some lazy streams of carbonation rising to the surface. ALso there is a bit of very fine particulate suspended in the beer column. I poured carefully, but apparently still a little sediment came in.
A large fluffy khaki colored head foams up and actually overtops the glass, but doesnt spill out. Nice looking head on this beer! Foam leaves windowpane lattice as it fades during the sampling, but I always have a bit of a surface covering.
Aroma is a balance of hops and malt. I get some toffee and caramel but also a bit of citrus rind and some pine sap. There is also a little boozy note behind the other scents.
First sip reveals a lighter body than I anticipated, but it is still featuring a sticky mouthfeel. A bit of coating on my lips and palate on each sip. Very fine and gentle carbonation adds only the slightest tingle as the beer rolls across my mouth.
Flavor is what I anticipate after the nose. There is some caramel and toffee and some light fruit, but the finish rolls to some rindy grapefruit biting hop finish. The finish is dry and the bitterness lingers after each sip. I dont get any ABV warmth or black pepper bite so the booze is hidden on flavor. Finish is also kind of dry and the bitterness definitely lingers long after I swallow the beer.
I know there has been debate over what actually makes an English vs an American barleywine. This seems to be American for sure, not quite Bigfoot bitter, but its got a bite. I enjoy this barleywine quite a bit, glad to have tried it.

Pours a murky burgundy-brown with two fingers of dense khaki foam. Aroma is toasty, nutty, bready, earthy, and caramely malts. Resiny, herbal, and piney hops add some strong bitterness. Flavor profile is resiny, herbal, piney hops with caramely, bready, earthy, nutty, and toasty malts. Strong bitterness with some sugary malts underneath. Mouth feel is medium-thick with a smooth, consistent grit. Overall, not a lot of depth, just heavy hit of strong malts and bitter hops.

Served in a 15.5oz Speigalu tulip from a 16oz can.

Served from the can in a mason jar.

Burnham is winding down, I believe, but we're still going strong. This stuff pours a mostly clear garnet-amber topped by a finger or so of rich cream foam. The nose comprises rich caramel, pine sap, light grapefruit peel, mild candied orange peel, and a bit of rye bread for the sake of it. The taste brings in more of the same, the hops more powerful here (a throwback to the American barleywines of yesteryear), taking on a spicy twinge amongst the citrus. A good amount of booziness also prevails beneath the proceedings. The body straddles the line between hefty medium and light heavy, with a light moderate carbonation and a thick feel. Overall, a throwback American b-wine that's pretty tasty, but it's also a bit much. I'm thankful that I'm splitting the can.

 

 

The body is crisp rusty amber with a big soapy off white head that leaves wonderful lacing down the sides. It does have a bunch of floaties though so there's that.

Caramel malts lead the way with a little bit of citrus. Mostly just bready malts though.

There is a big bold bitter citrus blast up front. There's some nutty and spicy rye-type malts and more earthy bitter hops. It reminds me more of a rye-IPA really than a barelywine. There is a lightly sweet caramel note to the back end as well.

Body is tight and the earthy piney bitter finish is big and bold and long and the prime mover.

I keep coming back to a rye IPA as an analogy. If I think of this as a rye IPA I think it's actually really good. As a barleywine, it's mediocre. I'm just gonna pretend it's the former rather than the latter and I'll enjoy the hell out of it.

 

 

 

Had on tap at Special Brews Lynnwood, WA.

 

 

Bottle from Belmont Station. Orange is for the color, not any citrus. Deep irange golden, share bubbly head. Malty, boozy aroma. Taste is malts before being obliterated by the alcohol heat. Boozy and warm.

 

Orange Giant pours just that. A giant mass of burnt orange with massive foamy off white bubbles stubbornly resting on top, then ultimately clinch themselves to the glass.

A spicy and sweet licorice aroma dominates first whiff. A burnt resin and caramel follow.

The flavor follows heavily dominated by caramel that swiftly transforms into spicy and rich black licorice. A dark date like fruit lies underneath, but that spicy hop profile lingers on forever.

Though rich and sticky, the texture resembles more of a double IPA than a barleywine. Not quite rich enough, and relatively easy to sip on. Not a bad thing by any means. Very sweet at first, very bitter at last,and a little too carbonated.

Orange Giant is a great bang for your buck barleywine, but nothing extraordinary. I will probably buy this once a year, and be happy to do so. Cheers!