Barleywine style tasting March 4th

This was brewed in 2015. Lawson's and Otter Creek collab. Barleywine brewed with maple syrup and aged on maple wood. 10.5% abv

Smell: maple, metallic
Flavor: maple syrup, wood, resiny hops are barely hanging around
definitely an american barleywine
Feel: smooth, booze is well hidden, not overly sweet, slightly chewy

Decent brew. Not outstanding or anything. Very subtle flavors overall.



Will be back later for another post

 

2016. Drank at cellar temperature. Aroma is like a caramel-drizzled sweet croissant (a bit on the raw, doughy side) topped with raisins, and more general 'yeastiness.' Tastes of toffee and sherry notes with some moderate heat at the end. More of a silky mouthfeel than sticky. As is, a very nice BW. I could certainly imagine it ageing well.

 

Poured at 53 degrees:



Amber brown (18) w/ruby highlights; off white, almost beige head; decent thin cap retention; excellent clarity; solid ring w/some clingy lace; lite viscosity when swirled reveals very little "legs". 4.25

Caramel, lite spice oaky nose; lite floral esters as liquid continues to warm. 4.0

Astringent bite right up front; resiny, bitter hops, oak, lite spice; caramel malt sweetness in the middle; bready malty ending. 4.0

Medium plus body; lite carbonation; warming on the tongue. 3.75

Long bitter, dry alcohol finish; overall, I think it needs (bottled 12/21/16) a year or two to smooth out the alcohol. Otherwise, lots of hop flavors balance well with the malt. 4.0



Cheers from St. Pete!

 

I held onto one of those from last winter. Nice stuff. Thought about polishing it off for this tasting, but decided to go in a different direction. Ooh, the suspense.

 

I was looking for a proper occasion to open this 2015 Firestone Walker Sucuba from @warrendietrich2001 , and an online Barley Wine tasting seems just about as proper as an occasion can get!



I noticed that I inadvertently stole @muchos glass. Sorry, I'll wash it when I'm done.

I was immediately struck by how no nonsense the nose is. The barrel was eager to escape, as bourbon, vanilla, tobacco and leathery tannins blended together near perfectly. After warming up a bit, the Bourbon dominates but brings along sugar and dates.

First sip brings massive hot bourbon raisins. Second swig, I know what is coming enough to dismiss the obvious and focus on the tobacco, which is hiding under an astringent heat. Third swig opens up with a bit of the date thing that was in the nose, but one thing all of the swigs have in common is the astringency on exit. Only a touch of aftertaste, and not overly dry despite being fairly hot.

Very happy to have finally get a chance to check this one out, as I'd classify it as a heavy duty barley wine for sure!

 

This gets better with age. The more the hop bite fades the better I like it. The hop bite comes off as herbal which I do not care for (centennial?). All other aspects are very good for the style. Just not my cup of tea without a few years on it.

 

I'll add this to break some guidelines down. Categorized as a strong ale, the alcohol, and sweet brown sugar and dark fruit like qualities are very similar to barleywines. Very sticky and sweet. Over ripe raisins and grape even. Alcohol heat is not very noticeable. 11.3 % alcohol. A good beer for what it is.

 

Good evening, all! This is St-Ambroise 20th Anniversary Vintage Ale (2009), an English Barleywine from McAuslan Brewing, Montreal.


My first thought on the color of this was caramel sauce, so I'll go with that. An aggressive pour yielded a thin head of off-white foam that disappeared rather quickly, leaving minimal lacing. Not much carbonation, giving it a rather flat appearance. There is a lot of complexity on the nose and palate. Aromas and flavors of light toffee, caramel, bread, prunes, and leather, with a little citrus and tannic astringence on the finish. There seems to be a little bit of an off-flavor from oxidation as well. The alcohol (9.8% ABV) is not well hidden, presenting itself prominently on the palate. Mouthfeel tends toward heavy and syrupy, with a bitter, slightly sweet, and alcoholic aftertaste. About halfway through this, I got out some small pieces of aged cheddar and a few pita chips as a go-with. Great pairing, and the food mitigated the intensity of the tannins and alcohol. Not bad, nothing spectacular.

3.87/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

 

It's was very cool to see this and brown sugga here because I hear that brown sugga is the same Gnarlywine recipe but they used brown sugar for the yeast instead.

 

Good evening Barleywine Advocates! Well, barleywines are a style that I've only recently begun to appreciate. Tonight's entry for me is:




$ 9.00 (Including Beer Club discount and tax)/750 mL ($ 0.354/oz) at State Line Liquors, Elkton, MD.
Bottled 10/5/15, served at 42 degrees into a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The beer was allowed to warm to 60 degrees before tasting.
Aroma – initially caramel malt, fades as the glass warms.
Head – large (Maximum 5.3 cm, aggressive pour), off white, low density froth, average retention fading to a two mm ring and thin partial layer.
Lacing – poor. Many irregular tiny islands.
Body – medium amber, initial chill haze clears somewhat to leave a slight haze.
Flavor – Initially sweet and caramel. A little bit of vinous oxidation is present at the end. No distinct flavor or aroma from hops. There is neither flavor nor gastric burn from the alcohol, rather surprising at 10.3% ABV.
Palate medium to full, sticky, very soft carbonation.

While I’m hardly a connoisseur of barley wines, I’ve had better and most definitely had worse. This is a inexpensive example of a decent English-style brew.

Appearance 3.75, Aroma 4, Flavor 4, Palate 4.25, Overall 4. Rating 4.01, rDev +9.9%.

 

Drinking a Sawyer's Swamp from Cape May Brewing.

A lot darker than I would have thought from a barleywine.

Aroma is a dark fruit full of sweet molasses.

Taste is very astringent almost medicinal maybe from the hops with less of the molasses from the aroma.

Not a perfect start to a barleywine night, but I have a Barrier Archibald, an Old Perseverance, and a Sucaba on deck so one of those will be delicious.

 

OK - here we go. I bought Criminally Bad Elf as part of my journey to all 104 styles, and this will be #84, English Barleywine. I'm not a fan of American Barleywines, and since this is rated pretty low, not expecting much here. I hope to follow this up later tonight with a head-to-head comparison of Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Scotch Ale vs Founders Backwoods Bastard. I've had them separately before and thought the CW is slightly better. We'll see.

Ridgeway Criminally Bad Elf, 10.5% ABV. Pours thin and light orange, just a little white head. Nose is alcohol, fruit, and sweetness. Taste follows, with a slight bitter close. Poor mouthfeel since it went flat quickly, and overall extremely meh. Actually better than expected and better than previous barleywines, though nothing to write home about. Not sure if I'll finish it just due to the alcohol in it and the other two I have planned next.

 

Thanks for the review. I've always been intrigued by the Ridgeway Bad Elf series. I'll pick one up next time I see one.

 

Hey, y'all. Thought I'd join you with a Weyerbacher Insanity.

It pours a nice ruddy brown color with a half finger of light tan head that's quick to dissipate into a lasting crown.

Strong toffee, raisins, pine and vanilla bourbon in the nose, with a faint medicinal, cherry note in the background.

Raisin and pine compete up front in the taste. There's some mild barrel, vanilla and cherry mid-palate. Then a bitter aftertaste, slight alcohol burn and some lingering oakiness.

Medium bodied with very prickly mouthfeel.

This bottle's still pretty fresh (11/14/16). I reckon a year or two will make it a whole lot smoother.

 

In this corner from Amherst, Wisconsin, weighing in at 9.5% ABV, we have Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Scotch Ale. In the other corner, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, weighing in at 11.2% ABV, we have Founders Backwoods Bastards. Two of my favorite breweries head-to-head. Speaking of head, looks like Founders wins here, and therefore also with lacing. Nose is a tie, both slightly boozy. Tastewise they are very similar. Both are quite sweet. Bourbon comes through on the CW and alcohol on the Founders. Founders has a bit more bitterness on the close. I have to give the edge to Founders on mouthfeel as it is smoother, though it is a bit heavier on carbonation. Overall both are excellent and very similar. I wanted to do this for quite a while, but held off due to the total octane of these two. Other BA's have given the SW a slight edge in average score, 4.29 to 4.26, so perhaps too close to call.

 

I have 2 I will be drinking tonight, first up is a 2017 Bigfoot. I generally drink one fresh and cellar the rest, I like it much better with a little age.

Appearance - Pours clear ruby brown color with light tan head. Really good lacing all around the glass.

Aroma - Smells like fresh pine, caramel, dates and figs as well a little citrus.

Taste - Bitter hops up front, malts, caramel, dark fruit and some orange peel.

Feel - Smooth, full bodied, dry finish with a little bit of heat fro the alcohol.

Overall - Again I like this beer fresh but prefer it with some age once the bitterness dies a little but still overall a great beer.

 

I've got bells third coast old ale...

 

The Sawyer's Swap grew on me as I drank it and it warmed up. Still very astringent though.

Now drinking a Barrier Archibald.

This bottle has been sitting in my cellar for 2-3 years, so this is the perfect time to pry it open.

It taste super smooth. Lots of dark rich fruit and a strong burnt sugar sweetness.

Very good barleywine. A classic UK style.