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Heavy Seas - Below Decks (Barley Wine Style Ale)
Heavy Seas Beer
- From:
- Heavy Seas Beer
- Maryland, United States
- Style:
- English Barleywine
- ABV:
- 10%
- Score:
- 82
- Avg:
- 3.63 | pDev: 13.77%
- Reviews:
- 347
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Apr 14, 2018
- Added:
- Sep 09, 2005
- Wants:
- 31
- Gots:
- 45
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Wasatch:
Reviewed by Wasatch from Colorado
4.35/5 rDev +19.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.35/5 rDev +19.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Thanks goes out to jwc215 for this brew.
2006 Vintage
Pours a nice dark golden color, nice carbonation, nice little fizzy tan head, which leaves some nice small islands and sticky lacing. The nose is malty, slightly sweet, some toffee/caramel. The taste is slightly sweet, malty, spicy, and toffee/caramel. The alcohol is hidden pretty well with this one, as in not over-powering. Medium body. Very drinkable, this is a treat for sure, thanks Joe.
Feb 09, 20082006 Vintage
Pours a nice dark golden color, nice carbonation, nice little fizzy tan head, which leaves some nice small islands and sticky lacing. The nose is malty, slightly sweet, some toffee/caramel. The taste is slightly sweet, malty, spicy, and toffee/caramel. The alcohol is hidden pretty well with this one, as in not over-powering. Medium body. Very drinkable, this is a treat for sure, thanks Joe.
More User Ratings:
Rated by pathman from Ohio
4.5/5 rDev +24%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.5/5 rDev +24%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
2/12/17 bottle (2011 vintage)
Feb 12, 2017Reviewed by Jadjunk from Georgia
3.46/5 rDev -4.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.46/5 rDev -4.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
"An English style barleywine ale that can be enjoyed now or kept "below decks" as it becomes more complex as it ages." Brewed in the style of an English Barleywine ale. Available in 22 oz. bottles and on limited draft. Originally an annual winter release, discontinued following the 2012 season. I will review the most recent release (2012) alongside two older vintages (2011 & 2010).
Poured from a 22 oz. bottle to a snifter glass. Served above 59 degrees Fahrenheit.
(Appearance) Pours a creamy frothed light caramel tan head over a deep cherry cola body with caramel highlights and high clarity, little sediment and light, relaxed carbonation. Retention is average and lacing is light and spotty. 3.75
(Smell) Bready caramel, toffee malt, moderate grainy esters, some mild fruit syrups of raisin and plum, reserved sweetness and aromatic qualities in general. Potency is mellow. 3.25
(Taste) English malts with a touch of toffee sweetness, light caramel syrup character, light to little fruit profile and not much graininess, fairly shallow flavor profile, perhaps preferable to newcomers of the style who prefer a lighter-bodied barleywine, not particularly satisfactory elsewhere. Concludes with a reserved alcohol finish. 3.5
(Mouthfeel) Texture is slick, residual, lightly oily, mildly dry. Carbonation is mild, generating a light frothiness and a lightly crisp finish. Body is light/medium for an English Barleywine, medium/heavy overall. Balance is slightly grainy over sweet. Alcohol presence is moderate and there are no off characters. 3.5
(Overall) Below Decks comes off to me as a Barleywine ale that doesn't take enough chances to stand out as a reputable Barleywine against other choices. Notably light bodied, with little flavor development of the malt profile or the yeast character. The alcohol profile is certainly there, but without a satisfactory malt backbone, it comes off as forced. The alcohol could easily be dialed down a few percentage points and create an enjoyable and more accessible style but as a barleywine, this is not one of Heavy Seas' stronger styles. 3.5
Vintage Notes:
2011 (3.5 Years Aged): Creamy frothed head of same color but shorter lived, body is a touch more opaque and denser with slightly more sediment, same carbonation. Holds a bit more fruit sugars and molasses than the 2012 batch, although even less malt presence, despite an ever present graininess, shallow potency. The flavor generates some more tart fruitiness and a slight edge of funk over 2012 but suffers from the same level of malt body shallowness with not a lot of malt character nor sweetness to round it out. The texture is slick, residual, lightly creamy, moderately dry. Carbonation is moderate with light frothiness and a moderately crisp finish. Alcohol presence is moderate. While I find this vintage an improvement over the evidently shallow 2012 version, it is still a shadow of its potential in malt body and character.
2010 (4.5 Years Aged): Light foamy head of a softer tan color with the most visual body depth of all, thicker flaked sediment, same carbonation. A trained nose may discern trace caramel and toffee, faint fruit syrups, surprisingly shallow and not particularly potent. The flavor of 2010 has the most caramel and toffee backbone, much better and more thorough malt profile than either of its successors and a slight fruitiness, still incredibly easy drinking at 10%, arguably shallow flavor profile still, but the most satisfactory of all. The texture is slick, lightly sticky, modestly chewy, moderately dry. Body falls shy of moderate for the style, alcohol presence is modest. Compared to the following two years of Barleywines, I can only suspect that corners may have been cut to generate an inferior product in the years that followed, and I think this is arguably the best of the three Barleywine vintages I have tried tonight, although it is still a step behind comparable beers of its style. I do not think that the ingredients going into this beer would make it a good aging beer. I could not predict how well this beer would fare past four years.
Recommended vintage: 2010, or just avoid altogether
Heavy Seas Beer's
Below Decks Barleywine Style Ale
3.46/5.00
Jun 26, 2015Poured from a 22 oz. bottle to a snifter glass. Served above 59 degrees Fahrenheit.
(Appearance) Pours a creamy frothed light caramel tan head over a deep cherry cola body with caramel highlights and high clarity, little sediment and light, relaxed carbonation. Retention is average and lacing is light and spotty. 3.75
(Smell) Bready caramel, toffee malt, moderate grainy esters, some mild fruit syrups of raisin and plum, reserved sweetness and aromatic qualities in general. Potency is mellow. 3.25
(Taste) English malts with a touch of toffee sweetness, light caramel syrup character, light to little fruit profile and not much graininess, fairly shallow flavor profile, perhaps preferable to newcomers of the style who prefer a lighter-bodied barleywine, not particularly satisfactory elsewhere. Concludes with a reserved alcohol finish. 3.5
(Mouthfeel) Texture is slick, residual, lightly oily, mildly dry. Carbonation is mild, generating a light frothiness and a lightly crisp finish. Body is light/medium for an English Barleywine, medium/heavy overall. Balance is slightly grainy over sweet. Alcohol presence is moderate and there are no off characters. 3.5
(Overall) Below Decks comes off to me as a Barleywine ale that doesn't take enough chances to stand out as a reputable Barleywine against other choices. Notably light bodied, with little flavor development of the malt profile or the yeast character. The alcohol profile is certainly there, but without a satisfactory malt backbone, it comes off as forced. The alcohol could easily be dialed down a few percentage points and create an enjoyable and more accessible style but as a barleywine, this is not one of Heavy Seas' stronger styles. 3.5
Vintage Notes:
2011 (3.5 Years Aged): Creamy frothed head of same color but shorter lived, body is a touch more opaque and denser with slightly more sediment, same carbonation. Holds a bit more fruit sugars and molasses than the 2012 batch, although even less malt presence, despite an ever present graininess, shallow potency. The flavor generates some more tart fruitiness and a slight edge of funk over 2012 but suffers from the same level of malt body shallowness with not a lot of malt character nor sweetness to round it out. The texture is slick, residual, lightly creamy, moderately dry. Carbonation is moderate with light frothiness and a moderately crisp finish. Alcohol presence is moderate. While I find this vintage an improvement over the evidently shallow 2012 version, it is still a shadow of its potential in malt body and character.
2010 (4.5 Years Aged): Light foamy head of a softer tan color with the most visual body depth of all, thicker flaked sediment, same carbonation. A trained nose may discern trace caramel and toffee, faint fruit syrups, surprisingly shallow and not particularly potent. The flavor of 2010 has the most caramel and toffee backbone, much better and more thorough malt profile than either of its successors and a slight fruitiness, still incredibly easy drinking at 10%, arguably shallow flavor profile still, but the most satisfactory of all. The texture is slick, lightly sticky, modestly chewy, moderately dry. Body falls shy of moderate for the style, alcohol presence is modest. Compared to the following two years of Barleywines, I can only suspect that corners may have been cut to generate an inferior product in the years that followed, and I think this is arguably the best of the three Barleywine vintages I have tried tonight, although it is still a step behind comparable beers of its style. I do not think that the ingredients going into this beer would make it a good aging beer. I could not predict how well this beer would fare past four years.
Recommended vintage: 2010, or just avoid altogether
Heavy Seas Beer's
Below Decks Barleywine Style Ale
3.46/5.00
Rated by Nickcal from Rhode Island
4.29/5 rDev +18.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.29/5 rDev +18.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
From the cellar. Brewed and bottled 2007. Aged very well lots of sediment on bottom.
May 29, 2015Rated by burly_enzymes from Connecticut
3.91/5 rDev +7.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.91/5 rDev +7.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
2011 bottle poured in a whiskey tumbler
Mar 27, 2015
Heavy Seas - Below Decks (Barley Wine Style Ale) from Heavy Seas Beer
Beer rating:
82 out of
100 with
521 ratings
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