Abita Select Barleywine

Brewed by Abita Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Covington, Louisiana USA

Serve in Snifter

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Draft. Amber beer with a dark cream head. Caramel aroma. Caramel flavor with light diacytel and light alcohol. Medium-plus bodied. Caramel and light alcohol lingers.

Tap at Blue Nile. Dirty orange to slightly amber pour wih a small soapy head. Nose is sweet and malty. Palate is a bit thin. Taste is malty, sweet cherry, and a bit of hop kick. Not bad.

on tap at the Blue Nile. Pours a nice mahogany, mostly translucent, significant and dense white foam. Pronounced aroma featuring dried cherries, something floral, a bit of barnyard, and sturdy malts. Taste is less complex than the aroma suggested; mostly dried cherry, baked sweet bread malts, and some floral notes. Palate-wise this beer isn’t hefty enough to make it a "great" barleywine, but it stands out in its subtlety. Usually barleywines hit me straight over the head, which I tend to enjoy, but I appreciate Abita trying a different approach. The flavors all work together, but ultimately the novelty of subtlety wears off and I wish this were more beastly and less refined.

Date: February 10, 2012
Mode: Growler
Source: Hop City, Atlanta
Appearance: hazy copper, frothy beige head, sticky lace
Aroma: sweet fruity aroma, light spicyness
Flavor: sweet fruity flavor, caramel sweetness, light earthyness, light bitter finish
Overall: a nice light and drinkable barley wine
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **+ /4

On tap. I wear it had a spicy and salty flavor. It is decently sweet. But overall a very nondescript barleywine.

Draft… Mostly clear dirty-orange ale with a small, creamy, white head. The bouquet features butterscotch, honey malt and maybe a touch of cotton candy. Medium to full-bodied with busy carbonation. The flavor leans just a hair toward the bitter side, but is well-balanced overall. Citrusy, rindy bitterness is furnished to offset loads of fruitcake, candied dates and cobbler. Lengthy, medium-bitter finish.

This just didn’t work for me. Everything was there in a way: malts, hops, sweetness, etc. but this was very watered down - just came off too weak. Nose was faint at best. Taste was more like water than Barley Wine.

@ Cooter Brown’s. Hazy amber with a thin head. Melllow malty aroma. Rich malt taste. The hops came through with some dryness. Earthy. Maybe not exciting but balanced.

Clear dark amber color with beige head. Pit fruit, herbal, grainy caramel aromas. Medium bodied. Dry grainy caramel, pit fruit, mild floral hop flavors, boozy finish--decent

Draft @ Cooter Brown. Red amber orange, dark. Nice lace. Smells powdery sweet with lots of toffee. Fairly chewy body. Dates and clean fruit sugars. Balanced. Surprisingly decent.