Unicorn Ale
Great Lakes Brewery

Project X bottle I picked up last year, red waxed 2011 vintage. 650ml into a tulip. 140IBUs.

Muddy brown, with light retention and dense lace. Nose has heavy caramel, sweet malt, undefined and slightly muddled hops but generally tropical and herbal/pine in that regard. Taste is fantastically bitter, huge caramel malt character, tootsie rolls, pine and light tropical charcter. Bitter as heck into the finish. Sweet and malty in the finish, with that driving bitterness that pierces through both qualities. Full feel, sticky with a lower medium carbonation. This has held up quite nicely, but I still prefer the barrel aged version.

 

A big barleywine, boozy, hoppy (believe it to be 100 IBU), A bit above average mouthfeel. This was good for being young. However, a sipper in terms of drinkability. Dark colour with no head. The booze is not hidden,but its manageable. Good for what it is, an American strong.

This beer is not barrel aged, as the other Unicorn listed on the site appears to be.

Beer is a cloudy caramel colour, quite opaque. Some off-white head on top, but not much.

Smell is quite hoppy. Lots of citrus scents. Orange, grapefruit, others.

Taste is similar to the nose. Very hoppy, more like a DIPA than a barleywine to my taste buds. Bitter citrus flavours (orange, grapefruit). Some caramel malt as well, but not as malt focused as most barleywines tend to be. However, whatever style it belongs under, it is quite tasty.

High carbonation- too much for me. Full bodied and a bit sticky.

Overall, quite an enjoyable beer. The beer is presented as a barleywine but, as noted above, this really seems like a strong DIPA to me. In any event, good stuff.