3.4 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Bottle. Pours an amber color with a small white head. Rather toasty malt aroma with hints of honey. The honey actually comes out pretty strong in the flavor - the beer is quite sweet, masked out a little by the spruce tips and malts. Hints of vanilla and caramel as well. Mouthfeel is thin and lightly carbonated. This has no business claiming itself as a barleywine, but it’s interesting and a pretty drinkable beer on its own.
2.9 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 12/20
A too-sweet barleywine that didn’t seem finished I had much higher expectations for the Alaskan barleywine. Aromas of honey and pine. Not as sweet on the tongue, and short on the palate for a barleywine with a light finish. Shucks, I really wanted to like this.
3.2 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20
From a 12oz Bottle. Pours an orangish amber color with a thin layer of white head. Lightly malty aroma with a breath of hops and a restrained dose of spruce tips that leaves me wanting more. Barley Wine? Light to medium bodied mouthfeel with a soft carbonation. A bit on the sweet side, with some doughy caramelly malts making up the background to an earthy, piney bite. I still want more of the spruce character, but its still a nice treat nonetheless.
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
UPDATED: DEC 20, 2006 Orangey musk aroma, with crisp malt notes and a long waft of forest. Pour of deep amber orange, rim of whitish. Flavor is a bristly, bright fresh tasting sugar malt, with hints of toffee, caramel and cream. This rolls into a delightful deep woods pine tang, with lemon, bark and lots of mysterious vegetal character. Body is exquisite. Smack freshens up with some highlighted fruit, a la apricot rolling in lemongrass. So, as an Old Ale, this really isn’t that bad, in fact it has nice character and could maybe use a little more body, but I think it does well for the style actually.
3.3 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
12oz thanks to Jen. Pours a dark red copper colour with little foam. Aroma is very malty. First taste (my first beer in over a week) is spicy, like a spice cake, but then the malt takes over, with just a hint of spice. Flavour finishes with light grassy hops. Good beer
3 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20
Nice deep gold pour and aroma of malts and trees. The flavor is good, but the spruce tips are kind of strange. Deep and malty, with some caramel, but then a blast of turpentine. I wish they would have just thrown in more hops instead.
4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Great beer. I wish I had more of this. The spruce is there but subtle. Smooth flavor, pours deep orange. Malty aroma, with some bread dough.
3.6 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Bottle. Pours burnt orange with small but silky white head. The aroma is malty with some fruit notes, plant matter, and cake. The flavor is surprisingly good. The spruce tips are obvious, but not overwhelming. A nice, even, fruity tone supports the flavor, with lots of caramel and toast. The finish is slightly woody, which again accents the spruce tones. All in all, I think they pull this off rather well. This beer is underrated in my opinion.
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