Bacchanalian Barleywine
Black Hog Brewing Co.

Had this on tap at the brewery - ground zero of nowhere - & absolutely loved it. Hoping the 22 oz. black-waxed bottle treats my mouth as well. Split with my wife.

Nice touch – a Black Hog stamped in the top of the wax, which is borderline rubbery & not easy to dismantle. Once free, the liquid look like brown rode red, resulting in this amberbrownish offspring. Dark fruit, musky oak, toffee, & booze that the berries almost turn to rum on the nose.

Bacchanalian Barleywine – Barrel Aged leads with its ABV helmet. Boozy & bourbony, just as I like it, this isn’t for the crowd that likes just a ‘whiff’ of bourbon with their wine. I can feel my cerebellum shrinking. The bourbon/booze is backed by tons of toffee, caramel, & biting, snarling oak. Harshly bitter, in a good way. Finish is brown sugar, raisins, & a lingering tonsil-hockey of sweetness. Full, rich, wicked. I could take a full bomber of this over a course of The Two Towers. Minus the fucky parts that Peter Jackson just created out of his stupid whole cloth.

Weirdly unique. The wood & barrel lend this a hard, razor edge that one rarely finds in a barleywine. Excellent beer.

 

On-tap 1/22/2017 at Battleship Brewhouse in Fall River, MA, served in a tulip glass.

A: The beer is a dark coppery brown color, with a short off-white head that fades slowly and leaves a thick lace on the glass.

S: The aroma contains brown sugar, bourbon, caramelized malts, fruit and some hops.

T: The taste starts out sweet with flavors of brown sugar, bourbon and fruit. Then a hearty malt character comes in. The hops presence is mild but complementary and brings a very good balance. The after-taste is slightly sweet.

M: Crisp and smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is slightly sticky.

O: Tasty, goes down dangerously easy, slightly filling, strong kick, good representation of style, this is a very solid beer to sip on for a long time.

 

 

Sampling a cellar temp 32 oz growler poured into a snifter. the beer pours a deep mahogany with rich garnet highlights when held up. The aroma is rich and malty with caramel, toffee and brown sugar. I also get dark fruits like plum and raisin on this malt centric nose.
The first sip reveals a relatively thick body with silky smooth texture and very fine slightly tingly carbonation that rolls across my palate. Very pleasant set of physical traits on this beer.
Flavor is similar to nose with lots of malt, I get lots of caramel and brown sugar with deep raisin and plum notes that cover any hops that could be present. I also dont get even a hint of the ABV on this brew. If it is really 10.5% it is hidden extremely well. this is a malt lovers big beer and is very enjoyable if that is what you like. Dont expect American barleywine here, the hops are not the feature. I will definitely get more of this if available at Black Hog on my next visit!