Blind Pig Winter Barleywine

Brewed by Blind Pig Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Champaign, Illinois USA

Serve in Snifter

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On tap at the brewery. Pours a deep amber-ruby colored body with an inch thick, dense and creamy, khaki head that dissipates slowly and leaves a nice lacing. Aroma is caramel, a good amount of hops with some pines and florals, toffee, dark fruits, and a touch of earth. Similar flavor. Fairly sweet caramels with some toffee and a bit of a syrupy sweetness. Nice hopping to balance the sweetness with some citrusy pines and florals. A solid dark fruit before this finishes dry with a moderate bitterness and balanced malt sweetness. Lengthy aftertaste following a medium-full body and soft, moderate carbonation. Overall, a nice barleywine. Fairly sweet and fruity, but well balanced with a solid hopping.

On tap at the Blind Pig Brewery. I liked what they’re trying to do with this one as it is a good example of the style, but its just a bit too syrupy sweet for my liking. A very nice pour though, with a quite thick creamy dark beige head from a non nitro tap. Deep ruby colored, and thick appearance, though semi-translucent. Aroma and flavor notes play off each other well here. As noted, slightly too sweet and syrupy, though it does have a nice strong bitterness throughout. Would maybe have enjoyed more if that aspect played a more significant role. Notes of light caramel vanilla up front, with melons, mixed berry fruit, sugary toffee, and minor rum after. The slight over sweetness does give way to a more dry and bitter finish with earth, and muddled citrus fruits. This barley wine definitely grew on me, but I think a few tweaks could put this on a different level.