Courage & The Thundering Dawn
Wonder Aleworks

i have been stoked on the blonde barleywine style of late, but i was not overly stoked on this one, its sweet, thin, a little one dimensional, and particularly alcoholic, like in a fusel intensity sort of way, so both excessive and lacking at the same time, not bad, not offensive, not weird in any way, but also there is more to be had here than they attained. shockingly light for its style and abv, pretty good clarity and carbonation activity too, unexpectedly delicate in terms of appearance. the nose and taste show honey and some richness, but almost seems more like a dextrose spike than a malted grain derived str4ength, like there isnt much body when i taste it and less of the long boiled caramelized grain thing than most of these have, sort of generic strong ale, more alcohol presence than barley in terms of its soul. i get a little toffee and predictable sweetness, i get the warming booze, and i get a little hot harshness on the swallow, nothing from the yeast and only moderately hopped. the high carbonation would make it seem light and easy if the alcohol wasnt to assertive. very little nuance to this, maybe subtle peach and peach candy, butterscotch, but its all real straightforward. cool effort but this is more than a few tweaks away from playing with the big boys...