Beer Valley Highway To Ale Barley Wine

Brewed by Beer Valley Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Ontario, Oregon USA

Serve in Snifter

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A reasonable pour into my 25cl tulip glass still manages to produce a dense, four-finger thick, tan colored head. The beer is a rich red / amber color and shows a pretty hazy, light-red tinged, amber color when held up to the light. The aroma is quite hoppy, with herbal hop notes as well as lots of sweet citrus notes, but it also has a sticky malt character to it. Aromas of grapefruit, herbal pine, huge biscuit-like malt, crushed-lightly browned crackers, touches of hot alcohol that mixes in with the sharper hop notes, a bit of a vegetal hop character and a touch of caramelized malt sugars that accentuates the citrus and some fruity notes.

Sweet, yet it has an ample bitterness that tries to hold this in check. Up front the sticky, caramelized malt sweetness is the more dominant, but the finish sees an almost harsh, astringent green hop note and bitterness to it that tries to wipe the palate clean, but doesn’t quite totally dominate the malt. Flavors of pine tar, touches of turpentine even and some hot alcohol notes are quite noticeable, especially more towards the finish. Up front there are some sharp grapefruit zest notes and some bitter orange zest and pith flavors. The body of this brew is not overly heavy, but there is a rich malt body hiding underneath all of the hops; if it wasn’t for the harsh notes this would probably be pretty drinkable.

This is a hugely hoppy and harsh beer; one could argue that it is exceedingly young and it might actually be pretty drinkable in a couple years. Right now though it is just too unbalanced and harsh to be really all that enjoyable.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

Bottle. Pours a pale amber color with a longlasting off-white head. Has a fruity malty weak piney hoppy aroma. Fruity malty sweetish hoppy bitter dry flavor with piney hints and weak hints of dark fruit. Has a malty hoppy bitter dry finish.

Flaske: Orange uklar øl med et stort hvidt skumhoved. Duften er let humlet med en smule malt. Ikke så klar barleywine. En hybrid mellem engelsk maltdominans og amerikansk humledominans. Alkoholen er skjult både i smag og duft hvilket gør den farlig. Udmærket men ikke mindblowing.

bottle at ølbutikken, cloudy brown, smal yellow head. mild aroma, alc. well hidden. falvor is malty, sugary, caramelly, quiet sweet, okay, but not very deep or complex.

Bottle at Ølbutikken - shared with the Stormtroopers. Clear amber/brown – white head. Sweetness, nutty, raisins, fruity, dried fruits, light barley, nice bitterness, roasted notes, toasted malts, grape fruits, chocolate, cocoa. Nice.

650ml bottle pours a pale amber orange color with a small white head that leaves a few spots of lacing on the glass. Aroma is caramel and cereal grains with some hints of fruit and citrus hops. Taste is caramel malt sweetness with some fruitiness and a mild citrus and earthy hop bitterness. Medium to heavy body with mild carbonation and alcohol well hidden. Overall, a little too sweet for my liking but still a decent barley wine.

Very malty barley wine. Thick, chewy and chalky texture. Thin head. Syrupy notes of cocoa powder, caramel and molasses. Earthy and herbal hops with only a mild-to-moderate level of bitterness. Not quite enough bitterness to cleave off the cloying sweetness. Decent beer, but the unfermented sugars were a bit much.

Bottle. Pours muddy apricot. White head. Nose and taste of caramel, toffee, bready malts, dark fruit and brown sugar. The fruit in the taste is a bit more citrus like than dark and there is a slight hop presence. Mouth feel is very bready and grainy. Alcohol is well hidden - soaked up in the bread.

Bomber purchased at Holiday Wine Cellar over a year ago ($7.49). Pours a nice auburn hue with a half finger of off-white head. Aroma of dark caramel, molasses, dark fruit, and some faded American hops. Flavor of honey, caramel, some sticky fruit, and again faded American hops (light citrus and pine). Rather light mouthfeel for a big beer. The high alcohol is well hidden. A decent barleywine. (131, 485)

Bomber from who knows where. Actually drinking this whole thing tonight, not just the usual 2oz. Awesome appearance, really. Deep clear amber with a thick creamy light khaki head and great lacing. Big American barleywine aroma of toffee, caramel, faded hops, molasses, and booze. The booze and molasses come on a little too strong in the flavor, making it a bit unbalanced. Without that it would be excellent. Decent mouthfeel, fairly full bodied with average carbonation and some considerable booziness. Pretty good overall, but lacking in a few ways.

Pours a hazy golden orange with a smaller bubbly off white head. ARoam of toffee, caramel, dark fruits, leather and tobacco. Flavor of tobacco, caramel, toffee, dark fruits, leathery, pushing more towards the english style barleywinein my opinion.