Ballards WMD

Formerly brewed at Ballards
Style: Barley Wine
Petersfield, England

Serve in Snifter

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Sampled at the DC/MD/VA/WV/PA Ratebeer Gathering 11/20/04. Pours clear amber copper with an off white head. Aroma is malty with caramel. The taste has more of the same along with some molasses, dark fruit, a hint of ginger and toffee. Mouthfeel was full and round but not as syrupy sweet as other barleywines. Nice brew.

Hazy red brown ale with no head. Sweet apples in aroma, cidery, very oxidized. Sweet lightly hopped BW with strong alcohol warmth, overbearing and unbalanced. This is off. Bought at Utobeer, Borough Market, London, February 2005. May 2005, Capflu’s BW tasting.

Slight hazy amber-brown w/ almost no head. Aroma is malty (caramel, chocolate) & fruity (cooked apples, plums) but somewhat oxidized. Flat, lifeless feel. Flavour is reminiscent of caramel apples w/ some butterscotch & toffee. I didn’t find this beer nearly as bad as those with whom I shared (tiggmtl, CapFlu, Olivier_MTL, Goldorak, MartinT) but it was definitely past its prime.

Bottled. Clear ruby, no head. Vinous nose. Very sweet with some caramel and chocolate as well as coffee. Full bodied and very salty. Comparing to Right Angler it is more fruity/berryish, and alcohol plays a more prominent part. Warming and intense.

The label and beer name may well have been intended as a joke but it is in poor taste at best... Speaking of poor taste:
Browned apples, marzipan, sherry and cardboard in the aroma. Opaque brown body with absolutely no head at all. Still and lifeless. Green apples and cardboard mar the caramel malt flavour with some suggestions of roasted/chocolate malts toward the mercifully quick finish. Medium body with no carbonation. Possibly once intersting flavours are ruined by a sad presentation. Bottle sampled with CapFlu, Goldorak, Joey_Capps, Olivier_MTL, Lubiere and MartinT.

(12oz bottle) Headless. Nose of SHUGGA!!! Fruity but flat, lifeless... much like that after a nuclear attack.

Cuivrée allant vers le brun, absence totale de mousse et de carbonatation. Oxydée, cartonnée, citronnée, pommes meurtri recouvertes de caramel, le tout pour une poignée de sous noires. Une autre preuve que les Britanniques n’ont pas encore tous parfait l’art de l’embouteillage. Visiblement en mauvais état.

Sceptic tank sewage brown, zero head. Bonus points go for the highly antagonizing label. Citrus, lime mostly, oxidized apple aroma. No carbonation at all, and tasted like a rusty penny marinated in maple sugar extract. Pass!

The Lure:
Flat, oxidized cherries in caramel. Cheap vinous wafts with green apple peel tartness. Not sure I want to dig into this. Probably one of the most offensive labels in history, only the best British comedians could get away with this.

The Festivities:
Unfortunately, this beer is not funny at all. More caramel than proposed in the aroma, but the oxidation and vile, slick tartness just cannot please. Joris has a good point about some brewers insisting on brewing big beers even though their yeast seemingly can’t pull through. Something’s amiss, and this is a very plausible cause. Same fruitiness as the aroma, maybe more candy sweetness, but severely flawed and ultimately unpleasant.

Transcendence:
Fruit prematurely thrown to the ground by radioactive rain. What awful puddles.

poured dark brown with a small tan head that didnt come without a rapid pour. nose of sweet malt extract and alcohol. wood tobacco, brown sugar, toffee/caramel flavors and alcohol burn. astringent and cloying. difficult to drink and rather unenjoyable.

Deep ruby colour.Alcohol is obvious but not overwhelming. Chewy malt and plummy fruit to the fore. Rather sweet. Syrupy mouthfeel. Warming alcohol afterburn. A bit short on hops, although some bitter acidity comes through late. Fair enough, but nothing really leaps out. Bottled.