State of the Art - Barley Wine
Industrial Arts Brewing Company - Beacon

On tap at Industrial Arts in Beacon, NY.

This one pours a light golden brown color, with a small head, and a little bit of lacing.

This smells like spicy oak, bitter orange peel, vanilla, caramel, and toasted bread.

This eschews the classic syrupy caramel bomb, and goes for something a little different. It’s a little bit oaky, and definitely more American in style, with a citrusy and bitter hop backbone – reminds me of bitter orange peel, or like orange bitters, or some sort of citrusy cocktail using Amaro, I don’t know, I’m rambling. There’s some more classic breadiness, toffee, and citrus, with a pleasant light vanilla note.

This is medium bodied, slightly boozy, but not overwhelmingly so.

This was an interesting and mostly successful take on the style.

poured from a 16oz can into a SP BBT21 light bulb snifter. pours a very light brown like turbid sun tea with a thin layer of dirty white colored foam. dark fruits, damp oak and wet cardboard on the nose. taste follows with a woody finish. really good. not o early complex but very drinkable at 11% abv. medium-full mouthfeel leaning towards the fuller side. this was interesting. the foeder aging adds a nice touch and the base barleywine is delicious.

Blind review:

Poured at fridge temp. Pours a semi-transparent orange/red with minimal head. The nose is orange, leather, caramel candy, honey, biscuits, and a hoppy pine note. This comes across as an American barleywine without barrel aging, but let's see how the taste goes!

The taste is fantastic. Lovely caramel, honey, oranges, apricots, raisins, plums, pine needles, vanilla, and a floral note. Really smooth and lovely. This is just a great barleywine that, to me, bridges American and English styles. My guess would be an American barleywine. I do not think this has any barrel aging, and I think the ABV is around 10% Honestly, this one of the best I've had in a while. So well done.

 

A really unique, yet fantastic version of Barleywine! Has a deep mahogany color with a subtle oak and raisin smell. Tastes like a fine cognac.

L- honey red

S- oak, sweet, dark fruits, plums & figs

T- follows the nose, sweet, but not cloying, finishes with a mellowed hop note, alcohol is well hidden, no overt booziness

F- medium to full

O- a very well crafted Barleywine, would definitely purchase again

 

Pours deep reddish. Aroma is straightforward - cherries and maple. Taste, while not traditional barlewine-esque, is quite tasty. Nice combination of dark fruits, maple with some malts. Mouthfeel is medium.

Singe can from Half Time in a snifter glass.
Pours a amber color with a red hue, no head to speak of.
Poured into a tulip/snifter style glass.
Slightly bready with sweet cherry and maple notes, no hash boozy character despite the 11%ABV
Medium body with little carbonation.
This drinks very easy but has a nice flavor, love it!

 

 

 

 

Well, this is quite unique. Assuming cherry wood tastes like cherries, that is the most prominent of the triumvirate. I found some lightly sweet toffee barely peeking through all of that wood. Dry cherry throughout joined by oaky tannins and a bit of a piney hop bite at the finish.

I'm liking this quite a bit.

 

I never write reviews, but I will write a rave review for this beer because it has such a fantastic and distinct flavor profile and a sweetness I find so appealing. It is the aggregate flavor of raspberries or cherries, white chocolate, and cognac but it is not overly rich. It is 11% but it is neither sticky nor thick nor overly sweet and has no booze burn. There is none of the over-heavy malt sweetness of which I can only tolerate a few sips before I feel like I'm drinking molasses. In fact, the beer is extremely easy drinking -- like a lower abv marzen or bock -- as opposed to those overrich barley wines and stouts. The lightness of the beer means you can drink a lot of it without the distinct flavors blending into a homogenous syrupy indistinct malty brown sweetness. The mild berry-like acidity and light body together enhance the white chocolate and boozy cognac notes without those rich flavors totally dominating your palate. People throw around the term "balance" to praise food and drink -- I never quite understood how to apply the term about until now. I think this beer is a total masterpiece and a great tool to learn how to think about and describe beer and its qualities.

Poured into a tulip/snifter style glass.

L: 3.5 Transparent amber. Thin head. Some carbonation.
S: 3.75. Cherry. Maple. Malts. Alcohol.
T: 4. Sweet. The maple is a wildcard that really shines. Dark fruits, especially cherry. Bready malts. Booze.
F: 4.5. Medium to thick bodied. Despite the alcohol being in the taste and nose, there is little burn.
O: 4. A nice "big" beer. I expected more bitterness, but still a pleasant drink.