Sekiu
E9 Brewing Co.

Handsome dark copper color with fine-grained foam in the tall goblet. Very sweet and unctuous on the tongue. This doesn't taste like hops at all, rather a candy with some kind of bittering. The flavor is a simple caramel with some bark. The bitterness makes it seem like some kind of liqueur with gentian root, perhaps. It's quite sippable and makes for a rather severe nightcap but I would not call it very interesting. From the 16 oz can with no apparent date.

The Big Story on E9 is how Tacoma approached this 30 year old in the previous century to lead a brewery district. And it worked in an abandoned warehouse district that needed a New Lease On Life. Today, I count almost twenty breweries on a Map of that district. To me, iIt's an OK hobby to review beers; but a great social benefit of micros is it revitalises urban areas like Tacoma. (As we know, the greatest benefit is micros' camaraderie.)

As for Sekiu, it Looks the part (decent foaming pour on a dark brown bod). Sekiu Smells mostly of dark malts and fruits heightened by the barrel. Despite the sugar piled in, Tastes reflect balance, a nice bittersweet with a shot of citrus. Medium-mouthed and close to full. Fills my mouth.

 

Poured from a can at fridge temp. Pours a dark brown with a hint of red. Light layer of head. The nose is fantastic. Some Werther's caramel candy right up front. A good amount of bitter oak and leather. Sweet bourbon with notes of vanilla and brown sugar. Just incredible on the nose!

The taste...oh the taste. Swallowed the first sip and just had to smile. I have tried enough barleywine to know when something is special. This is one of those. Toffee, brown sugar, figs, plums, raisins, sherry, leather, wood, a touch of red wine, and a bit of hoppy citrus peel going on. A bit of burnt sugar and a rye spice. Earthy for sure. A bit of dried cranberries. Not overly sweet at all. Very nice balance of flavors. They really did a nice job with this one.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and quite dry. The aftertaste is a mix of sweet and bitter. Overall, a fantastic barleywine.

16oz can from Homebrewstuff. Mahogany pour, a few wispy patches of head and thin ring. Sweet malty aroma, prunes, raisins, tobacco. Taste is sweet, prune juice, malty, woody. Subliminal strength.

 

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a dark, brownish orange with a thin, dark khaki head that dissipates to sparse patches with light lacing. Aroma of dry caramel malt, woody oak, dates and mild bourbon. Flavor is caramel malt, dates, dried plums, raisins, bourbon, oak and a mild rye tartness. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. This barleywine has benefited nicely from its stay in barrels. The base barleywine was dry and malty, but this has picked up more dark fruit flavors, perhaps from the bourbon that make it taste more like a classic English style barleywine to me. Good oak character and the bourbon and rye notes are well integrated. Bourbon is the more dominant, but there is a pleasant light rye character as well. This is an excellent barreled barleywine that I will look forward to in the future. Not sure I would age the base barleywine, but this one could take on some extra character with a year or so.

a gorgeous monstrosity of a barleywine here, aged in rye and bourbon barrels, cool to see something like this come in a low brow four pack of pint cans, heck of a dose! this appears quite dense, the riches amber shade, fully viscous, slightly hazed over, and with a lightly frothy head on top just off white, sturdy looking to say the least. it smells amazing, much less alcoholic than it actually is, sweet sure, but with enough oak mellowing it and rye spicy contrast that its complex and appealing. molasses and maple, honey and vanilla, cooked sugar and wet lumber, really interesting mix of aromas. the flavor is wintery and hearty, warming but not hot, and with a ton of depth, really woody and mature, i wonder how long this was aged. rye in front of whiskey for me, dark brown sugar, wet soil, a little bready rising yeast, dark dried cherry and raisin, a kiss of fallen leaves, and finally a little alcohol to wind it down. really well built, fancy in the glass but not in the presentation, of impressive maturity and overall quality. i have not really had anything like this from these guys, mostly hoppy and wild stuff, so i was impressed to see this at such a high level, they truly are killing it across the board. this is the kind of barleywine i love, with a yeast element, a little oak, and a lot of grain character hitting more than just one note. better and better as it warms too, bravo!