Aniak
E9 Brewing Co.

 

 

16oz can from Brewers Haven. Dark brown, clear wispy head, beige ring. Aroma is malty, tobacco, old leather. Taste brings a bit of sweetness, malty AF, a bit dry with alcohol sneaking in late. Solid barleywine.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a dark reddish orange with a thin light khaki head that dissipates to sparse patches with light lacing. Aroma of caramel malt, dried plums, dates, raisins and red berries. Flavor is dry caramel and light biscuit malt, dates, figs, hazelnuts with a light walnut astringency in the finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. A solid English style barleywine on the dry and biscuit malt side of the spectrum, with less fresh fruit and caramel character. The dried fruit notes are great and and the semi-dryness sets this apart from other domestic barleywines of the English style. Unique and flavorful, I look forward to checking out how the barreled version builds on this interesting base.

a really heady barleywine here, these guys do everything well. this isnt too sweet, has a ton of complexity, and fits in the english style, being not real hoppy overall and showing a nice bready yeast profile, i love the depth of flavor here, in fact i like it as well as the barrel aged one they do, that element doesnt seem to be missing here to me at all, cant thank my friend enough for hooking me up with this can, its as good an example of the style as i have had all year, no frills. deep mahogany in color, bronze glow, thick beaten egg textured tan head, creamy and frothing, lots of bubbles present here too. nose and taste line up, caramelized long boiled grain sugar, dates, brown sugar, toffee, and honey, with a little earthy bran aspect to the malt as well, even a hint of cola or rootbeer or something to it, really cool. a warming baked sort of heartiness to this is nice, just a bit of residual alcohol and sweetness, lots of body but this doesnt linger hot or heavy at all, and in fact seems quite mellow overall for how flavorful it is. some chestnut and maple notes as it sits, increasing complexity, more and more from the yeast too. i love the carbonation this has, and i love how complete and refined it seems. an extraordinary specimen, leagues better than most of the kitchen sink types of barleywines that are out there these days, i hope to drink this one again!