Wombata (74), Kobe, Japan Sep 8, 2009 Aroma: Initially soft, creamy caramel rapidly changed to a more vegetal, resinous nose with clove/brown spice notes.
Flavor: Dried Orange, malt, and caramel on mid-palate that continues onto finish with the addition of some coffee flavors.
Comment: Aged one year. Shorter, mellow finish. Strength is its very smooth full-bodied mouth feel and malty flavors. The sheer volume of malt overwhelms the 91IBU ƙ-08).
Updated Summer 2009 tasting. Aged 2 years.
Color: Transparent brown
Aroma: Sweet caramel, floral hop, touch of citrus.
Flavor: Better balanced now.
Comment: With 2 years aging, I would raise the score to a 3.9-4.0. Still, other strong beers may be more worth aging. hirigalzkar (550), Stockholm, Sweden Sep 6, 2009 Bottle. Very hoppy american style barley wine. Almost an DIPA. Bitter. Not as complex as you wish it to be. Pipper (226), Ohio, USA Sep 1, 2009 Bomber from The Village Market. Pours a warm light brown with a solid off-white head. Probably one of the lower abv barley wines I’ve had but still a lot of complexity going on in the aroma and flavor. A little spicy, citrusy with some lighter sweet malts dominating. The alcohol became more pronounced towards the end of the beer, maybe due to warming up a bit. Enjoyable and I would come back to this one again. cprochak (388), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Aug 30, 2009 On tap at the brewery on 7/17/09. Pours a light brown caramel. A ton going on in the aroma with lemon and grapefruit, caramel and vanilla. Taste was incredibly bitter, but it also had a really strange unpleasant funk. Also too lively on the tongue and a bit hot. Was really looking forward to this brew, but it came up short. I think I’ll have to age a bottle for a couple years and see if that is more to my liking. garthicus (1216), Toronto, Ontario, Canada Aug 29, 2009 Generously purchased and shared with me by HogTownHarry at Beer Bistro. Appearance: Golden brown textured like sun. Aroma: perfumy as hell, hops, slight alcohol, strawberry, malt, clover and pine. Flavour: bitter, super malt, strawberry, blackberry, tart with a lot of spice particularly cinnamon. Lots of alcohol in the finish but not intrusive at all. ericandersnavy (1039), crossroads, Texas, USA Aug 25, 2009 bottle from k & j’s in lake dallas. poured an amberish orange with an off white head. aroma of malt, orange, grapefruit, and some cotton candy. flavor was orange, pine, spices, some floral notes. body was medium-full with medium carbonation and some smoothness. boFNjackson (1233), Portland, Oregon, USA Aug 13, 2009 Updated: Aug 14, 2009Bottle... Poured a hazy, brownish/amber with a thick head. Floral hops and a sugary alcohol, yeasty quality on the nose. Thick, chewy and foamy palate, a nice residual feel after swallowing. Very sweet, leafy and malty. A warming alcohol note with a hoppy, bittering balance. Well spiced and herbal tea. Caramel and sweet cream towards the finish. MmmcKay (269), Brentwood, Tennessee, USA Aug 10, 2009 Amber brown in color and slightly transparent. Nose is of hops and slight malt. Smells really piney. Upon tasting I noticed alcohol in the profile but its not overwhelming. There’s a bit of a malt profile, but the hops are dominating. You can really taste those IBUs. Great barley wine especially if you’re an IPA fan. Tasted this next to a Rogue Old Crustacean. It fared very well. Most everyone liked the Hog Heaven better. I preferred the Rogue by just a bit. Still it’s a great beer experience. Try one if you haven’t already. Highly recommended.
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