Cyclops Barleywine
Elysian Brewing Company

Cyclops BarleywineCyclops Barleywine
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From:
Elysian Brewing Company
 
Washington, United States
Style:
American Barleywine
ABV:
9.85%
Score:
88
Avg:
3.95 | pDev: 9.37%
Reviews:
53
Ratings:
93
Status:
Active
Rated:
Apr 27, 2021
Added:
Jan 20, 2003
Wants:
  16
Gots:
  4
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by John_M:
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Reviewed by John_M from Washington

3.91/5  rDev -1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Tried the 2006 version of this beer at the Hard Liver festival at Brower's.

This was the youngest barleywine I tried in my first flight of 5. The lack of age showed, as this beer was much more fruity (from the hops), angular and hoppy then the others I tried. The nose was somewhat muted, but I did get aromas of butter and toffee. The beer was still very sweet and smooth, but with a noticeable hop bite in the finish. While I didn't think the alcohol was too noticeable, it was still very obviously a big beer.

Very well made barley wine... one that will no doubt only improve with a few more years of aging.
Mar 18, 2007
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4 by powdersoldier from Washington

Apr 27, 2021
Photo of Suds
Reviewed by Suds from Missouri

4.02/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
From a traditional brown bottle, this brew is a clear amber brown color. Slim head. Wonderful malty aroma. Fruit, malt, and booze. Wow. Very sweet and malty flavor. Solidly bitter and woody. Nice.
Aug 02, 2020
 
Rated: 4 by NickThePyro from Washington

Feb 08, 2020
 
Rated: 4.5 by BrewmanCapote from Illinois

Nov 06, 2019
 
Rated: 2.5 by 1971bernat from Virginia

Dec 30, 2017
 
Rated: 3.72 by billab914 from Virginia

May 03, 2017
 
Rated: 3.85 by kylehay2004 from Illinois

Apr 07, 2016
 
Rated: 4.12 by stratusjeans from Washington

Mar 17, 2016
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Reviewed by REVZEB from Illinois

3.91/5  rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Really liked the taste of this one, with earthy elements, sweet toffee, some citrus and herbal flavors, and the barley bite with some hop bitterness to boot. The smell was off-putting in comparison, good sweet and dark aromas, but odd wood pulp/burning herbal medicine take away. Feel is smooth yet slightly chewy, good combo
Nov 21, 2015
Photo of tigg924
Reviewed by tigg924 from Massachusetts

3.35/5  rDev -15.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
2011 release. Pours murky, tan, with 1/4 inch head and moderate carbonation. Taste is caramel, toffee, and light earthy hops. Not as hoppy as other versions of the style, but I am sure this is due to aging. Overall this makes an above average barleywine. This is one that I am glad that I tried that is true to style.
Sep 11, 2015
 
Rated: 3.5 by oline73 from Maryland

Sep 05, 2015
 
Rated: 3.25 by Drknight from Virginia

Jul 25, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by Sails_Ambassador from Washington

Jul 19, 2015
Photo of Jeffreysan
Reviewed by Jeffreysan from Virginia

4.65/5  rDev +17.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
12 oz bottle, poured into a goblet.

Appearance: Pours a pretty, completely opaque, deep, dark, mahogany color with a quarter of a finger of white-colored head that quickly dissolved away into a thin lacing of foam that partially covered the top of the beer.

Aroma: Very aromatic, with strong aromas of dried stone fruit up front, such as raisins, prunes, dark cherry, currents and dates, followed by lots of candied sugar, some bready, toasted malt and some floral notes of honey-suckle and clover.

Taste: Delicious! Very similar, if not exactly like the aroma. Tons of dried stone fruit up front, such as raisins, prunes, dark cherry, currents and dates, followed by lots of candied sugar, some bready, toasted malt and some floral notes of honey-suckle and clover. At the finish, there’s just a touch of resin-like, piney hops, but much less than I was expecting from an Oregon beer.


Mouthfeel: Slightly chewy and pretty smooth as there is only touch of carbonation. With an ABV of 9.9%, there is only a slight alcohol warmth on the palate, much less than I was expecting with that high of an ABV. The ABV is extremely well masked.

Overall: This is quite a delicious barleywine. Nice, delicious flavors of dried stone fruit and candied sugar and toasted malt. Recommended!
Jun 12, 2015
 
Rated: 3.74 by mdaschaf from Indiana

Apr 08, 2015
 
Rated: 4.12 by mattjcrawford from Pennsylvania

Feb 09, 2015
 
Rated: 4.53 by bmur112 from Maryland

Feb 01, 2015
Photo of mabermud
Reviewed by mabermud from Washington

3.92/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Dark amber body. Off white collar for a head. Caramel aroma with fruity undertones. To me, not so attractive. The taste is muddled and not distinct. There is some light caramel with some fruity sour notes. The finish is not so clean and there is a little sourness.

Overall - I would have to be hard pressed to have this again. Not bad, but not good enough to have again.
Jan 19, 2015
Photo of LiquidAmber
Reviewed by LiquidAmber from Washington

3.99/5  rDev +1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A short vertical of the two most recent years of this local barleywine: 2009 and 2011 (which was released in 2013, probably for brewery aging).
2009
Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a dark, hazy brownish orange with very little carbonation, no head nor lacing. I was surprised when I popped the top that it was a twist-off, an odd choice for an ageable beer. Rich barleywine aroma of caramel malt, dark dried fruit, especially dates and figs, lighter fresh plums, a hint of hops and hint of oxidation. Flavor is concentrated dried and fresh dark fruit, mixture of biscuit and caramel malt, light grassy hop finish. A mixture of woody and earthy fruit malt in the finish reminiscent of a barreled port. Heavy, almost syrupy body, sadly with very little carbonation, although it is not flat. This has aged nicely and there is no detectable consequences of the screw cap; it kept this well. The flavors have mellowed and melded together in to a pretty tasty dark fruit and malt combo that was quite satisfying.

2011
Poured into an Elysian snifter. Pours a lightly hazy medium orange ambe with a thin white head that dissipates to a thin, patchy film with suprisingly good lacing. Aroma similar to the 2009, with caramel malt and dark dried fruit dominating. Almost the same level of mild oxidation aroma. Flavor is caramel malt, toffee, dark dried fruit with no fresh dark fruit flavors. Considering that this is actually 3 years old (I only aged it one year after purchasing it on release), it is not suprising it has some aged barleywine character. The flavor leans more towards to the caramel malt than the figs and plums, with a little bit of fresh plum juice and light hops in the finish. Medium bodied leaning towards the heavy end; not as thick as the earlier version. Although the flavors are somewhat more subdued than other barleywine, I really liked the caramel orientation of the profile. A nice, mellow slow sipping barleywine that leans towards the English style.

Both versions have well covered ABV and although a bit subdued compared to other barleywines, have good flavor and pretty much everything I want in a barleywine sipper late in the evening. I will get this again when released.

These two vintages are quite different tasting from each other. I had the 2009 version when it came out and neither recorded nor remember my impressions (I think I liked it), so I'm not sure what parts of the difference are due to aging or to batch differences. The 2009 is quite nice with age on it and I also liked the more caramel forward 2011. I have a couple of bottle cellared and look forward to comparing these again if and when Elysian releases this again.

The ratings are an average of the two, and in this case, the ratings are very similar except for appearance, where the low carbonation 2009 looses some points.
Jan 07, 2015
Cyclops Barleywine from Elysian Brewing Company
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 93 ratings