Barley Wine - Maple Rye Whiskey Barrel
Stoneface Brewing Co.

Sampling a 500 ml bottle at cellar temp and pouring into my trusty snifter. The bottle was purchased at the brewery in November of 2022. Vintage 2022.
The beer pours a rich dark mahogany color with some black coffee depth to it. no light passing through my glass.
A dense creamy beige head with some copperish highlights foams up 4 cm and almost overtops my glass. This foam slowly fades to a very sturdy surface covering. Sticks around the entire tasting.
Aroma is malty with toffee, brown sugar, some butterscotch notes, hints of whiskey and a good dose of maple syrup carrying through. No hop character here at all. Only slightly boozy but not fusol or hot smells.
First sip reveals a medium to thick body and fine and soft carbonation, a bit of a pillowy mouthfeel on this beer. Not sticky like I thought it might be.
Flavor is sweet malts with toffee and brown sugar and then a bit of spicy bite, sort of a black pepper character. This rolls to some sweet maple flavor that actually is sort of toasted note. No hop character, as I believe the bite is from alcohol on this one and no heat anywhere, hiding the 11.9%.
Quite a tasty malt forward barleywine that isnt cloying and does have a bit of balance bite on the finish.
Im enjoying this beer and honestly wish I had bought a second bottle.