Torn Apart By Trees
Nightmare Brewing Company

Pkgd: 05/18/20. Clear amber. Big root beer like aroma and flavor; definitely boozy and warm but not your traditional Barleywine. Good balance; definitely malty but not overly sweet. Full to medium bodied with a warming smooth finish.

Look - Really fantastic darker brown with a big tan head that last with a really nice thick rimming and sticky lacing
Smell - smells a lot like a root beer with some earthiness to it
Taste - sweet boozy root beer with that has that earthiness like the smell
Feel - Medium full body creamy light carb
Overall - not much of a fan but it is unique and worth trying

 

 

 

 

$ 10.79 (Including discount and shipping)/16 oz can ($0.674/oz). From Craftshack, San Diego, CA. Received 8/31/20. Reviewed 9/6/20.
Bottom stamped “PKGD 05/18/20”. Stored at home at 42 degrees and served at 60 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 3.5.
First pour – Pale amber (SRM 9), hazy.
Body – Deep brown (SRM 30), opaque. When held to direct light, translucent and deep reddish-brown.
Head – Large (Maximum seven cm, aggressive center pour), medium tan, high density with rocks, fizzy with short retention, diminishing to a two to three mm crown and several thin tiny islands.
Lacing – None, as expected at 15.4% ABV.
Aroma – 3.5 - Medicinal, no malt, no hops, no yeast. Weakens and dies.
Flavor – 4 – Starts slightly sweet and medicinal followed by a short-lived throated alcohol burn. Final flavor is weak licorice. No yeast, no malt, no hops, no ginger. No alcohol (15.4 % ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma. No diacetyl or dimethylsulfide.
Palate – 4 – Medium, almost sticky, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4. The palate actually works well with the general medicinal flavor and aroma – I just don’t know what this claims to cure. The general impression I have is that the brewer was visiting an herbal medicine store and thought “I’ll bet this stuff would make a tasty barley wine”. And it does – unusual but tasty.

 

 

Barleywine ale with Birch and Black Cherry bark, sarsaparilla, ginger, dandelion root, and licorice root. Aged on Tahitian vanilla.

Man, I've been drinking a lot of busy beers lately. This one has seven things in it!

I definitely cannot discern the each individual ingredient, but they work together well. I get cherry (not sure about the bark part), sarsaparilla, and vanilla for sure. Kind of a "Not Your Father's Cherry Sarsaparilla" vibe. There might be some ginger at the end, it is blessedly faint though.

Can't say I tasted anything barleywine-ish but this is worth trying. Not sure I'd buy another one though.

16 ounce can into a snifter. Canned 5/18/20, had 7/11/20.

Pours a ruby color, a little cloudy, with a half inch foamy head and some foamy lacing. Aromas of licorice, ginger, vanilla, root beer, malt, herbs. Kinda smells like toothpaste, in a good way. The flavor starts with sarsaparilla, then licorice, vanilla, malt, ginger, herbs. Has a little bit of a minty flavor midway. Smooth, a little creamy, a very good medium body, well carbonated.

This is pretty interesting and I liked it more, the more I had. The sarsaparilla, ginger and licorice root are a great combination, while the vanilla is really the star of this. Has a solid malty base, too. Unique and very enjoyable. Glad I have another can to age.

From the tall boy can in a snifter. This complex beast pours a
murky ruby tinged dark muddled brown with a thick head of off white
foam that settles to a thick ring, thin dusty layer, and sports subtle lacing.
Nose of sarsaparilla, anise, light camp fire smoke, earthy malts, and
sweet brown sugar. Flavors follow the nose but exceed it with elements
of rich sarsaparilla, earthy anise, mild smoked wood and campfire
notes, faint pepper notes, and warming astringent booze. Nice mouth
feel for such a unique brew---medium body, medium light carbonation,
warming, lively booze, lightly coating, and finishing wet, spicy, and warm.

Overall, do I love it....no...but it is beyond unique in this era of over marketed
oddities. Dig the other darker offerings from this fine brewery, this one is
fine but if you are not into sassafras tea from the forest (which I am familiar
with) smoked over different woodsy elements this one is not for you.
That said it is a unique finisher to a great session of nice brews!

Cheers

 

 

 

A - Deep garnet hue with cherry tan lacing

S - Licorice and birch with black cherry on the nose.

T- Woody black cherry with licorice and anise.

M - Thick, silky, and some warming on the way down.

O - This is one complex 'Barley - seek it out!!

Pours as a nice deep amber color with a tan head on top. The head sticks around for quite a while considering the high ABV. The smell of the beer is very much like Sarsaparilla, sweet spicy and a little earthy too. The taste of the beer shows off the birch and anise with sweet vanilla in the finish. The feel of the beer is oily and thick. There is also a subtle boozy heat to it. Overall this beer is super flavorful, might be off putting to some but I thought that this hits the mark for what they were going for here. A little goes a long way with this one.

Poured from fridge temp (or a tad warmer) from can to snifter. Pours dark red/light brown. Light tan head. Nose is pine, molasses, toffee, figs, raisins, and a bit of licorice. Taste is fairly sweet, but not cloying. Licorice comes in strong on the taste. Tree sap, vanilla, toffee, brown sugar, candy, a touch of mint, cherries. Amazing! Alcohol is really well hidden. Nice sweet aftertaste.