Bighead Barleywine
Dock Street Brewery - South

This review is an amalgamation of having it drawn from a tap into a clear 10 ounce glass at the source and the emptying of a pint can's contents into a clear glass liter mug. The color is bright copper-amber and reasonably translucent. There's little just-off-white head and that’s expected. Not expected is glass lacing. Barley malt, alcohol and hops are smelled, in that order, but none are outstanding. What makes this work and worthwhile is the amount of malt and alcohol that gets delivered without too much sweetness, nor alcoholic bite. Rather than being too cloyingly sweet, this drinks remarkably dryly for a barley malt/high alcohol brew. It may not have much competition for that accomplishment. Yet, the mouthfeel is decent, especially considering its ABV. Unfortunately, that makes it so much easier to gulp down, which can lead to an obvious problem. Nicely hopped, but still plenty malty, this might not be tolerated by those that want their barleywine sweeter, less carbonated and more alcoholic. But, for those without those standards, this is one great brew.

(16 oz can, no date/code; purchased single off shelf at Dock Street South yesterday... poured into a stemless wine glass)

L: clear, dark tawny colored liquid... puts up some frothy foam, but laces very little

S: copious caramel malts, figs, pine, black pepper; heavy floral aromatics mingling with hints of allspice, dark single malt Scotch (Edradour), and accents of fresh citrus peel... wood polished w/ lemon oil as it airs out; hint of mint gumdrop... classic American barleywine aromas

T: caramel malt carnival opening up in the finish with little residual sweetness but sporting a subtle toasty-nutty grain, with pungent spicy hop top note up front... almost vermouth amaro spiciness, however, the caramel is more in accents and coloring rather than base malt sweetness, as it gets drier and more hop heavy as it goes

F: actually pretty wine-like as far as abv impact, face flush... incredibly cut dry for its ilk... kind of a remarkable execution... easily one of the driest, taut-bodied, teeth-tingling I've tried of the style... almost like a hopped-out Samichlaus (copy to the above three attributes)

O: had this on draft there yesterday, served in a flat flute glass and it had very interesting floral and tobacco notes when it opened up, and it begins to shift toward that sip by sip here, but the glass (and temperature) may be altering the expressions in peculiar ways... in the end, it's a solid barleywine, if indistinct, but notably dry and strident when fresh... I'll surely buy more to age (2308)