Blue Mountain Mandolin (Barrel House)

Brewed by Blue Mountain Brewery
Style: Bière de Garde
Afton, Virginia USA

Serve in Stem glass, Tulip

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Bottle... Hazy dirty-orange ale with a small creamy white head. Decent retention. The bouquet is super spicy - nutmeg, clove, coriander and allspice - and fruity - plum and pear. Full-bodied with a buttery mouthfeel and moderate carbonation. The flavor is spicy and minerally with an off-flavor of raw meat or broth or stock. Finishes spicy, minerally and dry. Bottle courtesy of biggsbowler!

Bottle. Deep, bright clear golden color, massive cream colored head with good retention and solid lacing. Aroma of earthy clay, straw, subtle brandy. Taste is caramel, white wine, vanilla. Tasty enough.

Bottle @ home. Pours lightly particulate amber with a medium-small, frothy off-white head, short retention with spare lacing. Aroma is apple, pear, and stone fruit esters, biscuit and toast malt with cellar notes and light perfume alcohol notes. Flavor is fruity esters, lightly tart and sour, cellar and earthy notes, light spicy and peppery alcohol, toast and biscuit malt with a dry finish. Medium-full body, medium carbonation, light alcohol warmth, and slight astringency.

750 mL bottle from Whole Foods Market Charlottesville. Pours a hazy orange-amber color with a large frothy off-white head. Good head retention. Aroma of big spice notes, apple, bread, caramel, pineapple. The taste is citrus, pineapple, apple, pale bready malts, faint spice in the finish along with some herbal hops. Medium bodied.

Bottle - 750mL corked and caged. Barrel House at 9% ABV. Dark amber with a tall, light tan head. Aroma is mostly sweet with caramel, light toasted malt, yeast and dried fruit notes. Taste is caramel, sweet malt, ripe fruit notes, grains, dark bread, light straw, yeast and candied fruit. Body is medium with a moderate, bubbly carbonation and light stickiness. Ends with more toasted grains, dark bread, sweet malt, caramel notes, ripe fruits, earthy notes, soft yeast and straw.

Crisp, clear amber coloured body with a bit of a copper glow and a thick, rich, dense four centimetre tall tan head - very nice. Aroma of hay, grass, yeast, honey, apples, pears and a bit of funk - but not much; fairly nice and herbal/airy. Medium-bodied; Strong yeastie flavour at first with an earthy and barnyardie maltiness with a definite alcohol kick, some pleasant pear/fruity sweetness with a herbal and grassy bite and some good complexity on the back end. Aftertaste is fairly complex with a good biere de garde barnyardie and yeastie kick and some sweetness that lasts at the end, all with a herbal and grassy freshness. Overall, a nice beer for the style and once you drink this, you can differentiate this and a saison immediately. Nice to sample and might make me try more from this brewery, but perhaps not when they aren’t cheap. I sampled this 75 cL bottle purchased from Arrowine in Arlington, Virginia on 19-September-2012 for US$11.99 sampled at home in Washington on 27-September-2012. Cork States: Best by March 2013.

750ml on the cheap from Sam’s, Durham. Seems like this one’s had a lot of stylistic identities over the years. Deep amber pour with a nice, lively head. Spice and malts in the nose, not very much in the hops department at all. Mouthfeel is pleasant, fulsome in the right degree. Taste is a bit odd, with loads of sweetness and specifically a weirdly butterscotchy core (though not in a diacetyl sense). Found it a bit off-putting, preventing full enjoyment.

Released on 6/18/12, presumably a resurrection of the retired beer, although the listed ABV is now 9%.White grape and light funk on the nose. Clear amber, thin head. White grape and apricot flavor. Not boozy, light orange peel finish. Not much of a wow factor, but well made.

750ml bottle from Spirits Brick. Poured an orangey amber body with an average sized foamy off white head. Aroma is flowery and slightly sweet with some brown breads, grains, Belgian yeast, dry honeycomb and old brown sugar. Medium body with softer carbonation and a super dry finish with a lingering aftertaste. Favor is similar to the aroma with lots of Belgian yeast, slight hint of burnt rubber, dry bread crusts, old flowers. Was expecting more from this.

750ml bottle. This one poured a slightly cloudy color with a white head. Aroma is a touch of brown sugar, with some dried fruits and yeasty characters. Flavor is pretty darn enjoyable. Dried fruits, yeast notes. I liked.