Barley Days Wind & Sail Dark Ale

341 mL bottle. Deep honey brown with a nice, lasting head. Smells (home brew) malty, with dried apple and brown sugar notes. Taste is mild, dominated by malt. Slight hops bitterness. Body is a little watery. Not bad. I’d like to try it on tap.

[503-20070810] Tap @ TFOB (Toronto, ON). Medium alcohol and dark raisin fruit malt aroma. Hazy, dark brown amber body with a medium-lasting head. Dark fruity malt continues in flavour with some wheat and some nut. Medium body. Good blend of tastes.

On Tap at C’est What
Pours woody brown, low carbonation with small of white head.
Sweet toffee malt, slightly toasty darker accents, fruity finish.
Medium light bodied, harsh short burst of carbonation. Off fruity character in the middle. Short, thin finish with slightly medicinal overtones.

true pours like t a soft drink, very dark sweet malts nose. Very thin body which is not like the nose leads you to believe, kinda syrupy

Not very good. Taste like a diluted watery version of Guiness to which a few litres of sparkling water or coca-cola was added. There you have it, my impression!

I never usually read the ratings before I try the beer, it seems like I’m in for a heck of a time here...other rates are correct, this poured like coca-cola...I’m guessing the carbonation is a bit assisted here. Smells like chocolate, dark fruits, no complaints here! Taste - not as bad as I’ve been led to believe, but nothing spectacular. It’s strange how a beer can be thin in body yet syrupy at the same time, but this one does it...tastes like an ambitious homebrewer struck out on his own and opened a brewery. I respect the ambition, but this beer needs some work. The taste is fine, but a more substantial and natural-feeling carbonation would have to happen before I could recommend this. Ultimately, there are far better darks out there.

Pours like coke, looks like coke, tastes like.. Not coke. Tastes more like a vomit-like mix of coke (and not in a good way, is there a good way?). Fizzy to pour, totally flat with no visible head afterwards. Dark, slightly malty and putrid. There is nothing more to say about this beer, sadly.

Given that this beer (and the brewery) seems to have gone through a recent name change, I can maybe forgive the fact that it’s godawful. Still, I can’t help but point out that this smells and tastes like Willy Wonka’s vomit after a rough night on the town. That is, sour and somewhat chocolatey. The cheap, thin, headless pour is the first indication that something’s amiss, but the complete lack of hops, the thin malts, and the distinct stomach acid flavour didn’t help. Let’s see if they can get their act together!