Mendocino Talon Barley Wine

Brewed by Mendocino Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Hopland, California USA

Enjoyable but quite hot. Rich bronze, clear, hop vigor, sharp but satisfying, with lots of classic barleywine characteristics with its malt balance. Needs to tone down the alcohol. Perhaps the bottle I have in my closet will be ready in another year. // re-rate with another bottle: not as hot, though only marginally a higher rating. In particular, a strong burnt caramel edge to the nose. Relatively easy drinking and a decent compliment to my vegetable side dish of spiced roasted squash.

Pours dark copper with light head that quickly dissipated. Sweet aroma of malt and grape. Taste is what you'd expect from a barleywine - although thankfully not overwhelmed by hops like a lot of the "new" barleywine styles. Malt, caramel, malt, grape/cherry/cranberry cocktail, little spice, little hops. But there's a bit of unpleasant aftertaste - almost like chewing on a lead pipe - that I can't pinpoint. A bit of a disappointment. I was hoping for a bit more along the lines of the outstanding Eye of the Hawk.

Bottled. Deep copper body with dark red hues. Small tannish head. Nose is hoppy(pine) and fruity(berries) with light caramel. Light spice hint as well. Taste is hoppy but contained with more fruit notes and some light spice. Light alcohol notes. Body is smooth with a medium feel. Slight alcohol warming. Finish is hopped but sort of sticky sweet. Light alcohol notes during this as well as fruit. Nice barleywine!

This filled the glass with a nice brew that had a good brown color, decent head with a characteristic hop and malt aroma and flavor. Good, slightly above average American Barleywine. I’m glad we’ve been cellaring this awhile though, I think it might have been a bit harsh in it’s younger days.

This was a very smooth BW. The sweet syrupy flavors were toned down by just enough hops. Crisp and dry finish. Really good.

Bomber - Pours a quite cloudy dark brown in color with a very thin head and almost no carbonation. Aroma is very malty and very sweet with no hops apparent. Flavor is also quite sweet and thick. Decent BW... I really enjoyed this!

Bottle. Nice example of an English style barleywine. Sweet, slight hop spice. Honey and spice really come through and overwhelms. Sticky palate.

pours a murky orange with a small whte head.the head leaves little lacing as it sits.smells alot like a belgian strong ale with notes of cotton candy,banana,and citurs.the palate is very complex and contains hints of citurs hops,sweet malts,some corriander,and caramel.overall its pretty good stuff.