Kviek Barleywine
Loose Screw Beer Co. - Downtown Brewery Taproom

a pretty curious take on a barleywine here, especially at this very low abv. also, part of me wonders if they meant to call this a kveik barleywine to denote the yeast it may or may not be fermented with, but that would be a rough typo for a printed menu, especially at a brand new spot likely concerned with making a good impression, so kiev barleywine it is! deep amber to brick red in color, just a little bit hazy, and with a tall tan head from the tap, looks good in the little globe they serve it in, which might not be warranted at this modest alcohol content for the style, but it looks right anyway. the smell is like that of an old school red ale, caramelized and with a sort of kilned malt earthiness, baked and autumnal, but not really a barleywine to me. the flavor starts out that way too, but gets stronger, a little tannic, sweet, and yes even a little alcoholic in the back half, which makes it taste pretty right on for the style, a good pinch of hops past balance too, american in that way, although there is also a yeast component to the flavor here, maybe british, but warmly done if it is, i would guess anyway. its kind of a weird brew, but it does come together to serve the purpose quite well, and it gets a cool raisin and fig and even cherry fruitiness as it warms up, increasingly complex the whole time, and we ended up liking this quite a lot. cool beers happening here!

edit: the real name here is kveik barleywine, not kiev, the menu was reprinted this week to fix the mistake, but in a hilarious twist, they still misspelled it, kviek it now reads, boy do they need someone in here proofreading! still, the beer is rock solid at least...