Sleggehammer
Wynkoop Brewing Company

Appearance: Pours out a clear, dark amber, decidedly still body, but them's the breaks when you go growler.

Smell: Aroma comprised of caramel malts, dark fruits, and an earthy hop presence.

Taste: Bready caramel malts, moderately sweet. Light raisiny fruitiness. An equally moderate hop bitterness as well as the booze help temper the sweetness. Slightly bitter, drying finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation.

Drinkability: Exceptional? No. Acceptable? Yes.

I'm not sure of the vintage but this was on at the rock for barleywine month. Nice ruby color with a smell that was complete bubblegum and then juicy fruit gum, yum. The taste was dark prunes, raisin-type flavors, very drinkable. I heard good things about this beer on this very board and I was not let down, nice local barleywine.

Had this at the Falling Rock, on tap. Pours a hazy, brazil nut brown with moderate creamy looking white head.
Smell is relatively simple. Some caramel and sweet malt, a few herbs and a touch of hops. Alcohol is not detected.
The taste is a bit better. A nice balance between sweet and sharp, a bit creamy. Some carbonation adds some zip, otherwise it would be like a dark Boddingtons. It is a good taste, just not very complex.
One is enough. Very warming.

Had this on New Years at the Brewery.

Served in a tulip. Pours a dark ruby/brown with a finger of creamy head that diminishes slowly.

Smells of carrots, apricots, figs, chocolate, caramel, and burnt caramel, with maybe the barest hint of coffee and some esthers present. Does not smell like 11.2%.

Taste is amazing. Intense sugary sweetness followed by a moderate hoppy bitterness, followed by an intense black tar bitterness that lingers. Flavors of intense spice like clove and cardamom, apricots, prunes, coffee, roasted caramel. This thing packs a wallop of flavor in every sip, and it never gets old...new flavors and complexities at every turn: Like listening to Handel's Messiah or watching Rushmore for the umpteenth time, this brew always has something you hadnt noticed before, and never fails to disappoint.

Mouthfeel is also superb, featuring moderate and perfectly balanced carbonation and a slick, sweet up front followed by a smooth and drying finish. Dry as it was (and it was), it did not become old or unpleasant at all.

At 11.2%, you would not want more than one. It's disguised incredibly well in the taste and feel (I had pegged this one for around 9%, and it would have been lower if I hadnt known the usual range of their barleywines). Still, after only one glass on a full stomach I was feeling its effects, and another one would surely have left me knee-walking home. NOT a thirst-quenching beer. Beer-as-dessert is the approach to take with this one. Overall a superb beer. Thomas Larsen has outdone himself; this brew is tremendous.