Barleywine Appreciation Thread (2023)

Time to start purging the cellar and since it's a Friday, taking this one down solo. @Beersnake1



Updated review on 8-4-23
2014 Vintage with (9) glorious years of cellaring.
A - Initial pour looks like raison colored river sludge but eventually clears as the beer warms and presents a nice deep garnet hue with a slight bit of haze and micro-thin lacing. (4)
S - Molasses, brown sugar, Bourbon, vanilla, oak, and toasted caramel. (4)
T - Big Bourbon alcohol presence along with oak, molasses, brown sugar, toffee, caramel, raisins, and delicate vanilla. Ends with some underlying subtle fruity tartness like a Saison. (4.25)
M - Light syrupy, velvety body that leaves a sticky sugary residue on the lips and warming in the back of the throat. (4)
O - This aged gracefully. My initial review was April 2016 and quite frankly, enjoying it more now with nine years on it and upped my score. (4.25)
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April 2016:
A - Clear burgundy pour with thin lacing, no carbonation. (4)
S - Maple, brown sugar, and molasses. (4)
T - Maple, toasted brown sugar, molasses, and alcohol effervescence. (4)
M - Thick, viscous, velvet-like, smacking sticky. (4)
O - Big maple molasses. (4)

Honestly, I expected this one to be somewhat oxidized because of the age but was really surprised. It "ain't" no Mother of All Storms (my all time favorite), but no complaints here, this aged gracefully well!

 

LA Ale Works- BA Oldies
Rum and BBA Old Ale
Gross. Syrupy. One Note.
Stay away. Not cloying like 2020 BBT or Private Press stuff, but hard to drink

 

Olde Salem Brewing (Salem, VA) - Coal Tattoo (Cherry Brandy variant)

Big dark cherry aroma, just a touch boozy as it warms. taste is also heavy of cherry and caramel and grape, but fairly dry. medium bodied, a little sticky of a mouthfeel.

 

Have had a few duds not especially appreciated but this is doing the job.



Regretting passing on a rarely sighted pack when on vacation…

 

I don’t think I’ve seen it near me for 2 years now. Their stouts are all over but nobody wants to stock barleywines (my basement is rolling its eyes).
Had to stumble upon it when the cart was already full of stuff I can’t get at home. It’s a rough world out there.

 

4.39/5 rDev +27.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

16.9 oz bottle poured at about 65° into a Bourbon County snifter.
Nice brown mud colored brew gave up a stuborn natty fizz jet.
Aroma - yes! - aroma., blackberries slap ya right on the top of ya nose. Lush, sweet, horn pull fills the mouth completely. Malty caramel jumps up, a touch of prune, a hop whisper, a little fizz at the end. And then the ABV says hello goodbye, mic drop.,.
Mouth is lush, light but lively carbonation. End of the bottle brought a sensational silt that made the experience extra rewarding.
Overall, Nice to see a barley wine put into something other than a whiskey barrel. The Blackberry Brandy barrels came, I heard locally, as a rarity.
Fort Myers Brewing slayed this one!

 

working on some vintage stereo / turntable equipment kindly gifted from friends of my folks and enjoying a Westbound Louie (barrel-aged English-style barleywine). 8oz - enough to dig in and really assess it but not enough to get me too messed up to tinker around with this stuff. cheers!!

 

This had me worried for a second. But I knew better…

Cool tune, nice to see some more of your calligraphy.

 

Thomas Hardy’s Ale - O’Hanlon’s



Hopefully you will forgive an Old Ale interloper. If one didn’t know better one could easily mistake this for an English Barleywine.

Second bottle from this batch, and at almost 20years old, it holds up quite well.

First half of the bottle is pictured above.

Still gem clear, more ruby red than mahogany today. Still no head or lace, yet a slight carbonation is evident. Viscous film is less impressive today, in a Utopias glass. The warm pour flashed over with a thin head that passed within a second. The warm pour came with enough sediment to bring back the rich mahogany and and iridescent haze.

The aroma is just as strong and earthy as previous experiences, as are the raisins, figs and dates in the nose. Smoky peat is very light. Warmth brings out sweet molasses. Warmth ramps up the earthy raisins and figs.

Umami is definitely still here, although somewhat muddy, which is actually what I expect of that flavor. Light bitter-sweetness is also still present. The dry Port wine is prominent and even more so as it warms. Almonds, check, anise is gone. The finish is long and mild, I can tease out cherries, only because I’m looking for them. Unquestionably a different beer at ambient temperature, vs refrigerator temp. ~45° or so. The umami really jumps with warmth, and IMO, the warm version is superior.

Still full-bodied and syrupy smooth, and not palate clinging. Alcohol is about as expected for 11.9% ABV, though without any heat or warming characteristics. It does tingle the tongue when at ambient temperature. Soft carbonation and mild residual sugar on the lips.

2004-P13371 is sadly my last bottle. It claims to hold well up to 25 years, and I wanted to be sure to finish it before it nose dived. Mission accomplished to be sure.

The 2018 review … https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1533/16858/?ba=SLeffler27#lists

… was actually consumed 15 April 2018. So these two reviews are about five years separated.