 CharlesDarwin (1442), State College, Pennsylvania, USA
Jun 15, 2006
2005. 12 Oz Bottle. Pour of henna-tinged golden orange, with a rim of off-white and light carbonation. Aroma of distant malt, some sweet orange lemon degreaser and fragrant oyster mushrooms. Subdued. Flavor is a calm deep malt of mussels and ground mustard. A tinge spicy and rich. Not much, if any real complexity or depth. Just an alcohol tinging malt and sweet candied apple sugars. Smacks full of toasted almonds and light breading, but I’m still really reaching for anything to say about this beer. It strikes me as the budweiser of american barleywines, seriously. Standard, just plain malt flavor, with a decent hop balance. I can’t get anywhere with this beer, so it loses. It does show some high levels of sweet floral spice, but it maintains muddiness and really never emerges as a distinct character. Palate is fairly full.
theviolet (166), New York, New York, USA
Nov 28, 2008 Aroma of dried dark fruits, and alcohol. I imagined it to smell much more strongly, but wasn’t overwhelming which was welcome.
Dark copper body with a very thin head. Laces well.
A much milder flavor than I imagined, and wasn’t overly sweet. Very balanced and enjoyable. Malt, fruit.
Not too thick, but still not the most enjoyable palate. Good carbonation.
Good barley wine. My favorite that I’ve had in a style I don’t really love. A good beer for someone not too versed in barley wines.
rustychiles (546), Mesa, Arizona, USA
Nov 28, 2008 On tap at the Big Pour in Mesa AZ. Pours a copper color with a small white head. Aroma of yeast, malt, hops. Flavor is malt fruits, caramel, citrus, sugars. Decent Barlewyine.
jimmack34 (161), Ohio, USA
Nov 20, 2008 Bottle. Pours light brown with thick soft head, Smells very hoppy, like grass, pine, and citrus, and like thick malted cereal. Tastes strong, very bitter and sweet, tons of citrus, pine, and very thick tasting malts and fruits, even carmel, as the flavor stay with you for a while. Warms you up as it goes down and the flavor intensifies at it warms. Excellent beer!
santoslhalper (252), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Nov 2, 2008 2005 bottle. 3 years old. A thin off-white head sits beneath a clear copper body. The head disappears quickly and it looks like brandy. The aroma is phenomenal. Age has done wonders to this. Dig, date, raisin, bourbon, port, cherries and caramel. The taste is absolutely sublime. Sticky sweet port and bourbon notes meld with bittersweet chocolate, coffee, caramel, grapes, cherries, berries, plums, raisins, and a great spicy finish. AGE THIS BEER! 3 years in the bottle makes for a masterpiece.
BeerBelcher (800), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Nov 1, 2008 By barley-wine standards, this beer struck me as little better than average. I liked the appearance and aroma, but flavor and mouthfeel disappointed a bit.
This beer had a sparkling body with very minimal head. It smelled good; I noted what to me was a very pleasant cereal quality, and I am not big on cereal- or grainy-flavors. Flavor however was overly grainy, and without the the-mash-is-boiling-and-you’re-in-the-brewhouse notes that I got out of the aroma...more like a malted milk ball, which is not a flavor I am a fan of. Mouthfeel was pretty thin, particularly compared to some other barley-wines I’ve had lately, notably Old Crustacean and Curmudgeon.
Not a terrific effort for this style. I’d only weakly recommend it.
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