Beard Of Barley
Drafting Table Brewing Company

500 ml bottle into snifter, bottled on 3/10/2017. Pours fairly crystal clear deep ruby reddish orange/copper color with a 1-2 finger dense and rocky khaki head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of steaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big raisin, plum, prune, fig, date, grapefruit, orange, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, mango, melon, red apple, citrus peel/rind, peppercorn, pine, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, brown bread dough/crust, toasted biscuit, herbal, wood, floral, grass, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity yeast, citrus/fruity/earthy hops, and dark/bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big raisin, plum, prune, fig, date, grapefruit, orange, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, mango, melon, red apple, citrus peel/rind, peppercorn, pine, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, brown bread dough/crust, toasted biscuit, herbal, wood, floral, grass, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, woody, floral, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of raisin, plum, prune, fig, date, grapefruit, orange, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, mango, melon, red apple, citrus peel/rind, peppercorn, pine, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, brown bread dough/crust, toasted biscuit, herbal, wood, floral, grass, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity yeast, citrus/fruity/earthy hops, and dark/bready malt flavors; with an awesome malt/bitterness balance, and no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and fairly full body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready, fairly sticky/resinous/rindy, and lightly slight mouthfeel that is great. Mild increasing warmth of 10.5%, with minimal lingering booze after the finish. Overall this is an awesome English barleywine. All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity yeast, citrus/fruity/earthy hops, and dark/bready malt flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the big ABV, with the modestly bitter/drying finish, not aggressive. Awesome balance between fruity English yeast, citrus/fruity/earthy American hops, and rich dark/bready English malt complexity. Light residual sweetness with lingering resin dryness. Feels like a hybrid of American/English styles with the hop presence. A really enjoyable offering, and impressive style example as expected. Got better as it warmed.