Traditional Barleywine (For Christopher Hitchens)
Zebulon Artisan Ales

Pours a mahogany color with a thumb sized nice tan head that falls with some spotty lace.

Aroma is bready/caramel mixture with good fruit notes with a touch of old hop spiciness, caramel not as thick and sugary as most English smells more like an aged American style.

Taste is wow big malty notes loads of caramel malts, hints of toffee that wasn't in the nose. Lots of old hop notes maybe older tasting then the year and few months the bottle is. Some lingering sweetness from the caramel , earthy notes and lingering hop presence that probably was pretty bright 16 months ago. Kind of English with the big malty notes but also more to caramel then toffee and brown sugars that I find normal in the English style.

Mouthfeel is medium again not as full as I would of thought, good mellow carbonation though.

Overall a tasty beer even if it seems more of a hybrid between English and American too me anyway.

Appearance: Pours a clear copper color with a film; very leggy with tiny spots

Smell: Bread, caramel and earthy elements are paired with a powerful piney hop aspect

Taste: The piney hops dominate, from the start, with the earthy and caramel tones building underneath; a second wave of piney bitterness returns, after the swallow, to dominate the finish

Mouthfeel: Full bodied with moderate carbonation

Overall: Somewhat different from other English barleywines I have tasted, this beer has a lot more bitterness that I am used to; Zebulon is a stickler for historical styles so it is interesting to see how this style would have tasted in days gone by