Barley Wine Style Ale
Moat Mountain Smoke House & Brewing Co.

 

 

 

22oz bottle, #94.

Pours murky amber with a whisp of a beige head. Minor, short threads of lacing and a few traces of foam on the surface for the duration.

Aromatics are a blend of plums, toffee, caramel, and butterscotch. Hints of leather and burnt raisins.

On the fuller side of medium bodied with a tacky, slightly syrupy mouthfeel.

Chewy malt, caramel, and a balancing bitterness starts the palate. A hint of tart fruit steps forward along with a shadow of tannic grapeskins and charred malt.

Finishes a bit rough on the back of the tongue with fruit skins and stones, and loads of toffe-laced, husky malt.

A tasty and vineous English-forward barleywine. The hopping rate is low, and the beer is quite fruity. The tannic astringency detracts a bit though.

Pours a two finger dark cream head that fades quickly leaving some lace. Almost clear amber color. Light-medium carbonation and medium bodied. Hops, caramel nose, flavor is caramel, dark fruit some hops. Lingering resin finish. Pricey at $13.95 for a 22oz bottle #109, brew #1233 from Bert’s Better Beers Hooksett, NH.

My bad beer in our Good Beer/Bad Beer tasting.

A - Copper colored beer with an off-white head that that left some spots on the sides.

S - Some malts, weird herbal notes, some moderate hopping. Feels like the bottle has been mislabeled.

T - Not a good tasting beer. Some herbal and vegetable matter taste coming through. There's a bit of sugar malt, kind of a watered-down taste. Pretty bad and strange tasting.

M - Lighter bodied, moderate carbonation.

O - It's only a winner in the sense we were going for a bad beer and it was indeed a bad beer. Strange tasting and not a good example of the style. Pass on this one.

A “thanks” to Mike (AgentZero) for bringing this to the “good beer bad beer” birthday tasting for AgentZero. To be fair, I’ve never heard of this brewery.

Appearance – Pours into a tulip with a reddish copper color. About a finger of slight off white head is achieved with a sloppy mini pour into my glass.

Smell – Floral and hoppy aromas. Slight brown sugar and malts at the end. Not much else.

Taste – This is an odd beer. I taste herbal notes right away, which fade to the brown sugar flavors. Not much bitterness, though not overly malty. It isn’t crazy offensive, but the weirdest barleywine I’ve ever had.

Mouthfeel – Medium bodied, appropriate carbonation.

Overall – As stated...this beer isn’t horrible but not memorable. I feel it was labeled wrong and needs to be re-formulated. Sadly, one of the lesser offensive beers of the night.

Thanks, Mike. Part of our good beer/bad beer tasting. Poured into Bell's tulip.

A - Pours copper, off-white color head, thin cap, spotty lace.

S - Not like a barleywine and more of a DIPA. Hoppy bitterness, dark fruity sweetness, malts, and alcohol. Smells like hop water.

T - Alcohol, watery dark sugar notes, some sweet bitterness. This tastes nothing like a Barleywine...should have been labeled a DIPA or something. Horrid.

M - Light, good carbonation, oily finish.

O - Mike brought the heat with this one, and it was almost enough to take home "worst of the night". Do not drink this unless you are as dumb as we are.

Thanks to Mike (AgentZero) for contributed this 'bad beer' to his own birthday tasting. Served in a Captain Lawrence tulip. Bottle #160, Batch #1233.

A - A half-finger of white foam settles to thin cap, thicker collar, and minimal lace. Lightly hazed dark orange body.

S - Aroma is not very good. A mixture of floral and soapy notes, with a touch of cardboard oxidation. Not much intensity either.

T - A bit of toffee and sugar, and a strange tea-like astringency and herbal bitterness in the finish. Again, pretty understated, but thankfully there's minimal alcohol presence.

M - Low carbonation, medium body, smooth texture, and only the faintest alcohol warmth.

D - Pretty boring stuff. Not offensive, but not very good either. I was able to finish my sample without pouring it out but I see no need to revisit this one.

 

 

 

22oz bottle
Pours a deep copper color with a beige head that quickly dissipates to a cap a leaves minimal lacing. Smells faintly of citrus hops, dark dried fruit, brown sugar and a hint of alcohol and caramel. Taste is a bit harsh with ethanol, sugary dark fruit dipped in grapefruit juice. Medium body and carbonation level with a sweet sticky mouthfeel. Another expensive bomber from Moat Mountain that didn't wow me. Decent beer, but kind of boring, one and done here.

Bottle #133
Brew #1233
In a snifter the beer was a cherry amber color with a small tan head that disappeared quickly.

Vanilla, caramel, boozy aroma. Tiny bit of citrus. The aroma was a little on the faint side.

Same thing with the taste, on the faint side. Vanilla, sweet caramel, tiny bit of hops, muted alcohol.

This was a nice enough barleywine, just a little bit timid.

Had this on tap yesterday at the Smoke House. ABV wasn't listed, however it was only available in the smaller size pour. (16oz.)

Dark ruby cherry cola color with a small head, poured right to the top of the glass. Clean, fresh smell, not overpowering. Vanilla & booze.

Ice cold out of the tap. Little bitterness, little alcohol, vanilla, smoke, and coffee. Even with the small head, it's clinging to the pint glass nicely. Roasted grains, and bourbon as it warms. Dry, not sicky sweet like a lot of barleywines. Slightly bitter finish. Not syrupy as you would expect. Medium bodied, medium carbonation with a somewhat slick mouthfeel. Nice.