Barleywine
Ferment Brewing Company

Bottle, 2020 vintage. Thanks for the recommendation, jason_nwx!

A deep mahogany brown with a dense light brown head with excellent retention and lacing, this looks great. The nose is great. A really rich blend of leather, brown sugar , toffee, dark caramel and a delicate fruity red wine. Cocoa, dark honey, a touch of coffee are present. The palate opens sweet, a little too much so, maybe, with toffee, brown sugar, caramel, dark honey and with a mild leather and earth. Mild fruity red wine, mildly jammy. Barrel character, specifically wood, is minimal, allowing the focus to be on the sweeter malt flavors without the tannins and vanillin. Medium full in body, softly carbonated and creamy on the finish. Lush, lovely.

Purchased by my loving wife in Oregon on a recent trip she wanted to bring back a Hood River memento. An English barleywine? My favorite style of beer! Saved this for about 5 months until Thanksgiving Day when I’m about to enjoy it in relaxation and calm. Now it should be noted that my beer here is aged in oak barrels, not wine barrels as other reviews state. So I think Ferment havre released a couple versions of this. Lovely white wax seal that was surprisingly easy to remove. Pours out a nice dark brown color, with a pretty khaki head of a half inch that dissipated after one minute or so. Not a strong scent to be had, it’s quite faint and may be overpowered right now by my wife’s cooking Brussels sprouts for our meal tonight. This taste is sweet and beautiful, toffee and butterscotch, a slight bit of caramel. Warming and wonderful, the bourbon comes last on the palate, just gently and not too overpowering. Just about right. Mouthfeel is light, lively, and crisp, with not too much effervescence, it’s not overly bubbly. Gentle warming of the throat as it goes down. Overall this is an outstanding example of an English Barleywine, and I’m pleased to have tried it this special thanksgiving evening.

 

lots to like about this one, you dont see these aged in wine barrels all that often, and i think it adds a lot to this, much like it did in their old ale i had years ago that got the same (or similar) treatment. really awesome grain profile here too, nice and strong and sturdy, not overly sweet, and super layered, very impressive, and huge thanks to my buddy for sharing! cool packaging on all their bottles, this looks really sharp with the white wax. a big choice for a company picnic in the middle of the day, but hey! pretty dense on the pour, reddish to chestnut in color, a little haze through most of it with a little more at the bottom, but a frothy burlap colored head rises high on this and it ends up having more carbonation than is common in the style. i smell red fruit and oak right away, some light astringency too from the wine immediately confronting the chewy sweet grain, toffee, caramel, maple, and brown sugar all swing through, but its not that long on the palate which is nice. i get some deeply earthy grain in the taste, subtle spiciness, long toasted and boiled, rich kilned malt notes, faint smoke, definite nuttiness, and a real autumnal vibe overall, this felt like a lot for high summer drinking. the alcohol is there in aroma and flavor, more as it warms, not crazy hot but consistently present. cherry and port notes from the wine ageing, a really neat choice for this. raisin, hickory, and toffee to close with just a little sharpness which may or may not be intentional. super fun take on the style, i could pick this out of a crowd of a whole lot of barleywines, big personality, definitely one to share!

Bottle at share. Muddy brown pour, fine beige head. Malty aroma, light sweetness. Taste is more of the pure, unadulterated malts, lightly sweet and leathery. Really good tasty.

Had on tap at Special Brews Lynnwood, WA.

Poured from a bottle at fridge temp. Pours a fairly light brown - almost reddish. Good amount of tan head. Tons of bubbles throughout. The nose is nice. Not too sweet. Toffee, some hops, dates, a bit of maple, and a slight note of port. The taste is great. Very malty. Sweet toffee, dried fruit (apricot, prunes, raisins), candy, maple. That port/red wine note from the nose appears here as well. The oak wine barrels really come through. Definitely some old ale characteristics here. A touch of tobacco and leather. Really nice. The mouthfeel is lighter than expected. Not watery or anything, but not as robust as some others. Still great, and glad I picked one of these up when driving through Portland!

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a medium to dark reddish orange with a fine, two finger, light khaki head with great retention and thick lacing; looks nice. Aroma of biscuit and mildly caramel malt, dark stone fruit, raisins and a little mineral. Flavor is dry caramel and biscuit malt, raisins, dates, apricots, plums, dry caramel and hints of red wine tannins. Medium bodied with moderate creaminess. A unexpected flavor profile for the style. The malt base is deep and flavorful, with lots of dried fruit and a quite malty character like an old ale. A unique vinous quality opens up at the end of the taste that adds a really nice dimension to the flavor. Although there are no oxidation flavors, this tastes like it has some age on it, in the best possible way. I'm not a fan of red wine flavors in ales, but I really liked the interesting fruity tannin notes here. Not at all a classic English barleywine, but closest to it in style; maybe like a barleywine and old ale hybrid. A really different, and quite flavorful and rich take on a barleywine. I'm going to pick up another bottle.