Cisco Baggywrinkle Barleywine

Brewed by Cisco Brewers
Style: Barley Wine
Nantucket, Massachusetts USA

Serve in Snifter

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2003 Vintage which was purchased at Mountainview Wines in Naugatuck, CT in 2004. Aroma is acetaldehyde. Apple cider aroma primarily. Some sweet caramel notes. too. Transparent orange amber copper body with a large, large off-white head. Kind of non-descriptt. A bit roasty and chewy to start. Some anise flavor is also in there. Not a ton of ethanol present. Some light fruity estery yeast is also in there. Seems slightly infected. Certainly, the first pour from my brother’s glass was much more acetic. My glass was much better, though. Still, this is nothing overly enjoyable. It seems as though the top of the bottle is much more infected and acetic. Interesting.

Bottle: Pours a cloudy mahogany with an off white head. Aroma, boozy fruits, caramel, brown sugar. Flavor, fruits, caramel, boozy notes, earthy.

Bottle. thanks to Vferg for sharing this BW with me. Pour a dark ruby brown. Aroma is sweet malt, dark fruit, and some burnt malt. Has a moderate abv warming throughout the flavor. A viscous mouthfeel.

Bottle: Ruby brown pour. Aroma is dark sugars, bourbon-soaked raisins, a bit of breadiness and some spiced citrus. Flavor is a hint of tartness, dark fruits, chewy, has a bourbon character to it. Sweet and chalky, with a warm finish. Not bad.

Caramel color with lots of carbonation and thick white foam. Sweet aroma of molasses and dates. Not as high an alcohol content as most barley wines. Smooth and robust expresso taste

Vintage 2001 as reviewed on 9/14/06. Pours murky, dark chestnut, with barely any head coming out of solution. Meager amount of beige bubbles of various sizes dissapate to just a ring around the edges, with minimal dotted lacework. Aromatics are largely dried malt, dark fruit, raisins, and some very nice vineous notes. A small wet paper hint detracts minimally. Very barleywine-esque in the aromatics and subdued hopping, with heavy-ish malt nods to the brits. Body is fullish with plenty of chewy, syrupy, malt. Light carbonation adds to the "wine-like" character. Pallet is very raisiny, with malt and dark rum. Underlying citrus fruit is there when you look for it, and bitterness is to balance only. Finishes with cocoa dusted dark malt and some lingering warmth. This Baggywrinkle has held up well on it’s side for 5 years, but the more current versions are superior, as they are barrel aged. Edit 1/25/08 another vintage 2001 bottle sampled, and this beer is fading. Mostly just dry malt and hints of raisins. The vineousity is holding up, but there’s some wet paper-board that’s starting to detract. There are some decent sherry notes that are becoming prominant, though. Vintage 2002 as reviewed on 4/28/08 A boisterous whisp breaks through the cracking of the cap. A carefull, slanted pour shows dark amber and hazy, with a lively, two-inch head. Dense froth of beige which fell slowly and left some errant dots of lacework. Dark malts, brown sugar, and caramel lead off the nose. Belgian-like phenols make an appearance. Cloves and a hint of bubblegum. Some faint citrus, leather, and raisins follow beneath along with a hint of smoke and wet cardboard. Lively, creamy mouthfeel. Sticky and tacky. Malt-forward on the pallet, with sweet toffee, caramel, cocoa, and figs. Raisins, dark rum, and alcohol follow through. Finishes with warmth on the throat with lingering sugary malts and underlying orange oil. The best aged example I’ve had, and resembling a large Belgian Dubble. Probably infected, but to a benefit for my tastes.

Bottle; couldn’t find a vintage, but it has a white label with a woman on it; 9% alcohol. Brown pour, almost the color of the empty bottle, opaque though. Aroma is peppery alcohol, malty fruit, sugar, and citrus hops. Lots of sugar, fig, and salty malt in the flavor; some peat (whiskey-like) and hops underneath. Pretty interesting and at least not over-hopped like most barleywines I have had recently.

750ml bottle from Shoreline Liquors. My bottle says 8.8% not 12%. Shared with my gf Cyn, Pours dark brown with a 3 finger puffy tan head. Sweet dried fruit nose. Taste is sweet and pretty good. This I would say is a mediocore BW. Drinkable and tasty but far from great.

Bottle; couldn’t find a vintage, but it has a white label with a woman on it; 9% alcohol. Poured a rich and muddy reddish brown; head was thin, off white and late forming. Aroma of caramel, figs, sugar, apple, vanilla and alcohol. Flavor initially was pretty boring and not overly good. Didn’t really get much better. Wouldn’t have liked more sweetness; others said it was, but I really got nothing. Palate was a little on the thin side. Pretty woody in the flavor some fruit. Below average example of one of my favorite styles. A more traditional example of the style, but it just didn’t do much for me.

Bottle courtesy of bmartin08. Pours sparkling and hazy amber with a large, creamy, light brown head, mostly lasting with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (cookie, caramel, toffee), average hops (herbs, grass), average yeast (dough, leaves) with notes of light alcohol, plum, apple, pear, and vanilla. Full bodied, gritty texture, lively carbonation, and a bitter finish. Long duration, moderate sweetness, acidity, and bitterness.