Olde Inventory Barley Ryne (Redhead)
Valley Brewing Company

Sampled at Toronado 2009 Barleywine Festival.
Pours striking clear copper to rose with amber core and thin tan head. The aroma is full of sweet rich dark fruity esters of prunes, plums, some cherry and a little bit of raisin to go along with pine hops in the background. I also get an understandable bit of heat on the nose with a longer draw. But hey, it's a big beer. The taste is much the same as the aroma, fantastic for the style, with deep rich dark fruitiness with wrinkled prunes, figs and ripe plums with a bit of cherry. Just deep richness that makes me want to sip it all night. For a bit of balance a light amount of pine hop bitterness is rolling around in the background. I love this stuff.

Thanks to seaoflament for pouring this recently.

Pours crimson with a thick and creamy beige head.

Aromas are of dark fruits, brown sugar, and bready malt with some caramel. The hops profile is citrus with some earthiness. Oxidization is noticeable, imparting some cherry and a little cardboard in the nose. Some spiciness is noticeable from the rye.

The flavor is of dark fruits, caramel, and some toffee. Citrus hops are noticeable, imparting grapefruit and lemon notes, and bitterness is at a medium level throughout. The alcohol is apparent, and the oxidation I noticed in the nose is more muted here. The rye is spicy and quite interesting as I've never before experienced it in a barleywine.

The beer is medium bodied with medium carbonation and a full, creamy mouthfeel.

Thanks to my buddy Steve for trading me this 22oz bottle of a Valley Brew beer that isn't really available in bottles. I took this one to the Pizza Port Real Ale Fest on June 12th.

Poured a red copper hue with a thick half inch of foam. The head receded to form a tan ring around the glass that lasted until the very last sip.

The first aromas I detected were of cherries, toasted malt, raisins, tart and tangy rye, hints of lemon, brown sugar, prunes, and dates. As the beer warmed up it opened more aromas of fruits, lots of citrus notes in the background as well. Some hints of toffee appeared later on. What was strange was, after the beer warmed up a bit, there was a strange, almost brett-like, aroma that would linger in the back.

The taste was of citrus fruits and lemon upfront, candied orange (which I enjoyed), toast, brown sugar, and a bit of toffee in the middle. Almost every sip consisted of some citrus zest and rye in the front with a sweet toast and sugary finish. Not bad but not great either.

Medium to high carbonation level but quite soft and creamy texture on the palate. Would have liked this one to be a little thicker though.

Decent barleywine with the interesting addition of rye, glad I was able to try it.

On tap at the brewpub. Pours a dark ruby brown color with a small tan head. Aroma is very fruity with a variety of esters and a little bit of booziness. Flavor is burnt brown sugar, caramel, berries, and alcohol. Medium-full body makes this a luscious slow-sipper.

A- Pours a cloudy copper color with very little head.

S- Smell is huge ... lots of dark fruit, prune, raisin, brown sugar.

T- Tastes more like an english barleywine, very strong prune notes up front followed by fig, plum and hints of caramel with little to no hop on the back end.

M- Thick with medium carbonation.

D- This is a very drinkable barleywine. I enjoyed it so much that I got a growler to take home.