Second Leg
Figurehead Brewing Co.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Two year old bottle, brewed in 2018; storage unknown, but possibly kept in a cooler. Pours a medium to dark reddish orange with a slight haziness and a quarter finger off-white head with good retention and nice lacing. Aroma of dry caramel malt, plums, light stone fruit, raisins and a hint of orange. Flavor is dry caramel malt, dried plums, apricot, fig and a touch of citrus. More caramel malt, dark dried fruit and a light bitterness develop into the malty, somewhat dry finish with aged hop bitterness. Medium bodied with light creaminess. A well made barleywine that starts out with English style caramel and dark fruit, but exhibits light fruit notes and distinct hop bittering as the flavor develops. Finish leans towards an aged American style barleywine with the aged herbal notes of a hopped ale. Flavor depth is a touch less than some of the bigger English style examples of this style, but the flavor changes are interesting and pleasant. The aftertaste has notes of biscuit malt, which is common in English barleywines. Now at 2 years, this barleywine has held up quite nicely and I'm assuming has mellowed a bit; the hop component shows aging character, but this is not heavily hopped, so it's more of a minor flavor element in the finish. A good barleywine will reveal new flavors long after the taste has finished and this is true here. The ABV is well covered. During the current tough time for restaurants and breweries, I've been trying to visit the smaller one that do not distribute widely, but are still open for pick up sales. I was pleased to find two barleywines and two Belgian ales from Figurehead that look quite promising. I'm very pleased with this one and look forward to their other offerings.