Class Of '88 Barley Wine | Deschutes Brewery
Brewed by:
Deschutes Brewery
Oregon, United States
deschutesbrewery.com
Style: American Barleywine
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 10.20%
Availability: Limited (brewed once)
Notes / Commercial Description:
No notes at this time.
Added by duceswild on 04-07-2013
This beer is retired; no longer brewed.
HISTOGRAM
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Ratings: 300 | Reviews: 69
3.5/5 rDev -4.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.69/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
3.62/5 rDev -1.1%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Bottle from Albertsons. Aroma hints at alcohol warmth, clear golden with a skin of ahead, mostly barley malt in aroma and taste. Smooth yet strong, nice winter warmer.
167 characters
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Bottle from Albertsons. Aroma hints at alcohol warmth, clear golden with a skin of ahead, mostly barley malt in aroma and taste. Smooth yet strong, nice winter warmer.
167 characters
4.25/5 rDev +16.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
3.54/5 rDev -3.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
3.99/5 rDev +9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
I tried this side by side with the North Coast -Rogue not available at the time.
The color is amber with great clarity small white head.
THe smell is mostly caramel malt with a slight aroma of hops and mild alcohol.
The feel is moderately sweet yet a nice balance of toasted and light spice in the hops with semi-dry finish mild alcohol.
The taste is very good, nice layers of malt with mild alcohol the toast in the malt is present with a slight alcohol in the back with mild hop flavor adding balance. This is a decent Barleywine in the American Style worth trying glad I got to taste this
594 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
I tried this side by side with the North Coast -Rogue not available at the time.
The color is amber with great clarity small white head.
THe smell is mostly caramel malt with a slight aroma of hops and mild alcohol.
The feel is moderately sweet yet a nice balance of toasted and light spice in the hops with semi-dry finish mild alcohol.
The taste is very good, nice layers of malt with mild alcohol the toast in the malt is present with a slight alcohol in the back with mild hop flavor adding balance. This is a decent Barleywine in the American Style worth trying glad I got to taste this
594 characters
3.79/5 rDev +3.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.84/5 rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.7/5 rDev +1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.75/5 rDev +2.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.63/5 rDev -0.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
best before Feb, 2014 according to the bottle. Tried on 7/9/15. Still had a good amount of malt sweetness (more so than the drier north coast bottling from the same release). A little too sweet and one dimensional for me, but still enjoyable.
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look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
best before Feb, 2014 according to the bottle. Tried on 7/9/15. Still had a good amount of malt sweetness (more so than the drier north coast bottling from the same release). A little too sweet and one dimensional for me, but still enjoyable.
242 characters
3.16/5 rDev -13.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
A- Pours a medium to deep orange, but still rather light in color for a barleywine. A small, foamy head forms and retains for a good while and laces an adequate amount. The body of the beer is fairly hazy and rather bright for the style.
S- Right off the bat, the scent of this one is a mashup of booze, hops, and bitter malts. Booze and somewhat piney notes come to the forefront of the smell with the medium to slightly dark malts dancing around in the background of the sniff.
T- If you were expecting a big and boozy mess like the scent was, that taste of this beer is a real surprise. The first thing that hits the tongue is mild malt sweetness. Then the alcohol bitterness and hops kick move in during the middle of the drink, but a subdued and mellow. The end of the drink is a blend of all of these flavors with the malts' brown sugary sweetness ramping up a little before the hops finish the drink with a bit of a bitter push.
M- This beer may be a little past its prime in terms of freshness because the feel on the palate is low in the carbonation department and a little thin, but not distractingly so. The alcohol heat is barely there as well, but this beer drinks pretty smooth still.
Overall, this barleywine is a little past its prime, but not a bad iteration on what I will call a blonde-ish barleywine. The lighter color and flavor of this beer really lends itself to feeling almost like a heavy, double or triple IPA.
1,440 characters
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
A- Pours a medium to deep orange, but still rather light in color for a barleywine. A small, foamy head forms and retains for a good while and laces an adequate amount. The body of the beer is fairly hazy and rather bright for the style.
S- Right off the bat, the scent of this one is a mashup of booze, hops, and bitter malts. Booze and somewhat piney notes come to the forefront of the smell with the medium to slightly dark malts dancing around in the background of the sniff.
T- If you were expecting a big and boozy mess like the scent was, that taste of this beer is a real surprise. The first thing that hits the tongue is mild malt sweetness. Then the alcohol bitterness and hops kick move in during the middle of the drink, but a subdued and mellow. The end of the drink is a blend of all of these flavors with the malts' brown sugary sweetness ramping up a little before the hops finish the drink with a bit of a bitter push.
M- This beer may be a little past its prime in terms of freshness because the feel on the palate is low in the carbonation department and a little thin, but not distractingly so. The alcohol heat is barely there as well, but this beer drinks pretty smooth still.
Overall, this barleywine is a little past its prime, but not a bad iteration on what I will call a blonde-ish barleywine. The lighter color and flavor of this beer really lends itself to feeling almost like a heavy, double or triple IPA.
1,440 characters
4.6/5 rDev +25.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
22 oz bottle, poured into a goblet
Appearance: Pours a very pretty, hazy, almost opaque, but not quite, golden, amber color, speckled with orange and reddish highlights, and a finger of white-colored head that quickly dissolved away into a thin lacing of foam that almost completely covered the top of the beer.
Aroma: Very aromatic, with strong aromas of toasted malt, candied sugar, stone fruit, such as apricots, nectarines and plums. Finally, I get some aromas of floral, grassy, hops. Very fruity, very nice.
Taste: Very nice flavors of toasted malt candied sugar, stone fruit, such as apricots, nectarines and plums. I also get notes of honey, black pepper, and orange zest. There’s some very nice, beautifully balanced, floral, grassy hops at the finish
Mouthfeel: Slightly-chewy and very smooth as there is very little carbonation. With an ABV of 10.2%, there is a very nice, slight alcohol warmth on the palate, but overall, the alcohol is pretty well masked.
Overall: This is a very nice barleywine, with good, fruity, flavors and a very pleasant mouthfeel. Its hop/malt ratio is really well balanced, which, considering that this is an Oregon beer, is a little surprising, pleasantly so, as beers from Oregon have a reputation of being quite hoppy. I look forward to trying the Class of ’88 Barleywine from North Coast that I have to compare, as well as my bottle of Mirror, Mirror.
1,414 characters
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
22 oz bottle, poured into a goblet
Appearance: Pours a very pretty, hazy, almost opaque, but not quite, golden, amber color, speckled with orange and reddish highlights, and a finger of white-colored head that quickly dissolved away into a thin lacing of foam that almost completely covered the top of the beer.
Aroma: Very aromatic, with strong aromas of toasted malt, candied sugar, stone fruit, such as apricots, nectarines and plums. Finally, I get some aromas of floral, grassy, hops. Very fruity, very nice.
Taste: Very nice flavors of toasted malt candied sugar, stone fruit, such as apricots, nectarines and plums. I also get notes of honey, black pepper, and orange zest. There’s some very nice, beautifully balanced, floral, grassy hops at the finish
Mouthfeel: Slightly-chewy and very smooth as there is very little carbonation. With an ABV of 10.2%, there is a very nice, slight alcohol warmth on the palate, but overall, the alcohol is pretty well masked.
Overall: This is a very nice barleywine, with good, fruity, flavors and a very pleasant mouthfeel. Its hop/malt ratio is really well balanced, which, considering that this is an Oregon beer, is a little surprising, pleasantly so, as beers from Oregon have a reputation of being quite hoppy. I look forward to trying the Class of ’88 Barleywine from North Coast that I have to compare, as well as my bottle of Mirror, Mirror.
1,414 characters
4.05/5 rDev +10.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Best By 3/07/14! I bought it two weeks ago. I'm not even mad the shop left it on the shelf. It is a Barleywine after all, right?
The nose is a sweet malt citrus-orange blast. Makes me want to chomp into some dried mango and apricot chunks.
Big sweet malt taste that blends nicely with citrusy hops. I will say this beer is a bit flat. Very smooth and easy drinking for the 10 ABV but it could use some carbonation and hop kick. I have a feeling that this was one Barleywine the brewers wanted to be had fresh given the emphasis placed on the hops on the label. The flavors from the hops are still somewhat present, but something about this beer definitely feels dead. I still like it because fruity hoppy American Barleywines are my jam, but I think I would have liked it more with fresher hops... I'll never know. It was still a great drink.
846 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Best By 3/07/14! I bought it two weeks ago. I'm not even mad the shop left it on the shelf. It is a Barleywine after all, right?
The nose is a sweet malt citrus-orange blast. Makes me want to chomp into some dried mango and apricot chunks.
Big sweet malt taste that blends nicely with citrusy hops. I will say this beer is a bit flat. Very smooth and easy drinking for the 10 ABV but it could use some carbonation and hop kick. I have a feeling that this was one Barleywine the brewers wanted to be had fresh given the emphasis placed on the hops on the label. The flavors from the hops are still somewhat present, but something about this beer definitely feels dead. I still like it because fruity hoppy American Barleywines are my jam, but I think I would have liked it more with fresher hops... I'll never know. It was still a great drink.
846 characters
3.61/5 rDev -1.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.23/5 rDev -11.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
Class Of '88 Barley Wine from Deschutes Brewery
Beer rating:
3.66 out of
5 with
300 ratings
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