Butte Creek Train Wreck

Brewed by Butte Creek Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Ukiah, California USA

Serve in Snifter

Bottle. Head is initially average sized, frothy, off-white, mostly lasting. Body is hazy medium amber. Aroma is lightly to moderately malty (cookie, caramel), moderately hoppy (grapefruit, resin, apricot), with notes of alcohol and candied fruit (mango, pineapple, etc.). Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Full body, creamy texture, soft/lively carbonation, moderately alcoholic. A perfectly fine barleywine that’s somewhere in between American and British in style, though leaning a bit more towards the former. No idea why the score so far is so low; it’s pleasantly fruity under the hops and nicely balanced for the style. A little boozy perhaps, but that’s pretty much the only gripe.

Bottle pours a hazy amber with a small off white head. Scent of hops and dark fruit. Taste is caramel and big time hops. Nice

Pours darker amber with a quick off-white head. Nose is floral hops, maple syrup and lots of booze. Bizarre flavor: a strong, almost chocolately malt sharply changes to bitter hops on the back without either developing properly. Not a good combination. Alcohol is also unhidden and makes for an unpleasant finish. Sub-standard for such a well-regarded style.

A 2007 bottle at a tasting at the home of, "hannont". Colour... very cloudy amber. Nose... boiled sweets with cinnamon discs and menthol drops. Palate... sweet, frothy, bitter on the sides of the palate with lots of dates, Christmas cake and sticky toffee pudding.

23rd June 2009
Hazy amber brown beer with an off white head. Semi dry and semi soft palate. An odd barleywine. Salty with bitter astringent citrus that doesn’t overwhelm. The mid is tasty with malt and fruit but the back end is all bitterness. Beer was best when pretty cold and the bitterness was supressed.

Pours hazy dark amber with a tall off-white head. Faint malt aroma. Sweet malt flavor that doesn’t come close to Barley wine complexity. Not bad, just not a Barley wine.

Bomber. Pours a brownish amber color with a thin layer of resinous head. The aroma is fresh caramel, molasses and toasted malt. The taste begins with a strong dose of malt and caramelized sugar flavors along with dried figs, prunes, vanilla, medicinal hops and woody alcohol. The mouthfeel is syrupy with medium carbonation and a hot, boozy finish. I’d recommend aging this one for a while to let the alcohol mellow out.

A: The pour is a dark amber/burnt orange color with a big off-white head. S: What a nose. Lots of intensely creamy caramel notes, milk, toffee, brown sugar, and some more caramel. I was really impressed with the aromas, I must say. T: Though not quite as striking as the nose, this beer has a very solid flavor. The sweetness is what this beer is all about, but it’s not cloying (though there are no overt hop characteristics). Sweet caramel, brown sugar, toffee, and somewhat creamy. M: A medium-full body on this beer with a soft, medium level of carbonation. D: This was a surprisingly delicious beer. Too bad I don’t have any of this myself as it was really enjoyable.

A decent offering, well worth the money and i’d possibly get it again. Just didn’t knock my socks off. better than expected, but still not that great. 2007 vintage.