Boquébière Hopkins Barley Wine Anniversaire

Brewed by Boquébière
Style: Barley Wine
Sherbrooke, Canada

Serve in Snifter

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Pours a muddied amber hue topped with a lofty, light beige head. Aroma is bready and resinous. Floral and citrus hop notes dominate, only slightly curbed by the malt backbone. Finishes slightly warming on the tongue with lingering hop aromatics. Quite smooth and pillowy on the palate owing to a high carbonation level. Overall a nice effort, although I appreciate a bit more complexity in the barley wine style.

My Bottom Line :
Strawberry jam and light caramel swim within this Barley Wine’s pillowy froth of carbonation, as earthy undertones and green Québécois malt prepare for a long bitterness.

Further Personal Perceptions :
-Creamy foam icing stays atop the misty, luminous pale red.
-Alcohol presence is subtle, which is appreciated.
-The body is rich but doesn’t feel too heavy since the bottle-conditioning job is perfectly done.
-For the style, this deserves more malt definition.
-The nose is not too evocative either.
-The Québécois malt signature is there, but is far from overwhelming (thankfully).

Bottle.

(Lot #1110-8687. Une bouteille «Anniversaire» ouverte avec Madame ma femme le jour de notre 20ième anniversaire. Un concept tout à fait original.) Une tête mousseuse qui s’accroche sur la paroi du verre. Un liquide à la robe bien ambrée. Un nez qui ne donne pas dans les excès et qui semble difficile à saisir. Du caramel et du sucre d’orge qui découlent des malts ambrés. Des houblons qui sont verts. Un côté fruité? Je n’en vois pas. Des saveurs caramélisées bien chaudes. Des houblons amérisants qui me semblent encore bien verts. Un corps étoffé. Un pétillement modéré et une texture huileuse. Une finale vertement amère et passablement chaude. Une séquence houblonnée qui ne me plaît pas particulièrement. Je préfère davantage le côté fruité du Columbus.

Bouteille 500mL. Ambrée légèrement voilée, belle mousse. Nez dominé par le houblon résineux. En bouche: malt caramélisé avec une finale résineuse de houblon. Quelque chose agace... manque de netteté?

Bottle: Poured a bright cloudy amber color ale with a very large foamy head with good retention and some good lacing. Aroma of green hops and residual sugar are well combined. Taste is a mix of sweet caramel malt with light toffee notes which are more then offset by loads of green hops notes. Body is full with limited filtration and good carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Can’t say there is any brewing flaw and this is even quite enjoyable but I am more of English style barleywine kinda of guy and don’t feel like the hop punch brings any additional compelxity.

Bottle 500ml. Cloudy orange amber with a creamy beige head. Aroma is caramel with hints of resin and citrus hops. Medium body with a strange fizzy carbonation for the style. Flavour is caramel with hints of warm alcohol, citrus and herbal hops, with a smooth bitterness.

Drank on tap (12 oz) at St-Graal in Ste-Thérèse (Quebec) on January 4, 2012. Hazy orange caramel, thin head. Raw sweet aroma of barley, a touch of peach. Malted barley taste raw notes of dry herbs, aftertaste of bitter honey. In my opinion, poorly made​​!

Bottle - 500ml. Hazy copper body with a thin off-white foamy/creamy head. Nice malty/hoppy aroma with fruity, spicy, and brown sugar hints. Alcohol is well hidden. Its robust, complex, well balanced taste is slightly dominated by hoppy flavors. It carries grapefruit, oaky, and brown sugar notes. Ends with a long, strong, warming bittersweet finish. Very good example of Barley Wine.

Pours a cloudy brown color with a thick, creamy, beige head. The aroma isn’t complex, but is appealing, fruity caramel dominate, some mild hops are also present. In the flavor, the hops are more dominant and I can appreciate their resinous contribution, the fruity caramel is still there and there’s a crème brûlée thing going on. So, there’s a nice balance between the sweetness and hops, it finishes with bitterness. The body is medium with a vinous texture and soft carbonation. Boquébière is often hit or miss for me, fortunately, this barley wine is a hit, nicely done!

Bouteille 500 ml. 8,5%. Couleur brune, un peu voilée, mousse beige. Arôme de malt caramel, un peu de fruits et étonnament pour un vin d’orge, du houblon. En bouche, malt, alcool, houblon, poires confites, sucre d’orge. Finale avec de l’amertume (pour un vin d’orge)...c’est excellent.