Country Life 10der

Brewed by Country Life
Style: Barley Wine
Bideford, England

Serve in Snifter

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Considering the style, Scores ranging from 1 to 5, 5 being the most intense
Appearance:
Body:   Clear(1)->Murky(5) : 4     Golden(1)->Dark brown(5) : 4     Still(1)->Sparkling(5) : 3
Head:   None(1)->Large(5) : 3   White(1)->Tan(5) : 2   Lasting: 3   Lacing : 2
Aroma:
Intensity : 3  
Yeast : 4   Bread : 2   Tropical Fruits : XX   Soap : XX   Diacetyl : XX Sulfur : XX   Fusel : XX  
Malt : 2   Biscuity : 3   Hay : XX   Toasty : 2   Caramel : 3   Fruity : XX   Nutty : XX   Honey : XX   Maple : 2   Molasses : 1   Cereals : 2   Grainy : XX
Hops : 2   Noble(1)->American(5) : 1   Leafy : 3   Spicy : XX   Floral : 2   Lemon/Lime : XX   Grapefruit : XX Orange : XX   Herbal : XX   Grassy : XX   Pine/Spruce/Resin : XX  
Notes :   Peach/Apricot : 2   Earth : 5   Mint : XX   Butterscotch : XX   Smoke : XX   Dates : XX   Bourbon : XX   Bubblegum : XX
Flavor:
Initial Flavor : Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 3   Finish Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 3   Sourness : XX   Bitterness : 1   Complex : XX   Length : XX
Palate:
Light(1)->Full(5) : 3   Flat(1)->Fizzy(5) : 3   Clean : XX   Sharp : XX   Watery : XX   Oily : XX   Chalk : XX   Astringent : XX   Alcohol : 2   Mineral : XX   Oxidation : 2   Metallic : 2

Comments: Strange! Extremely yeasty, corky even, moldy, musty barleywine with old books and cobweb notes and really little else happening outside of a typical caramel malt sweetness, not even sour.

Bottle.Black with a very small head.No carbonation and fairly lifeless. Sweetness dominates with some maltiness. Not a lot of distinctive flavours and for this reason a bit dissapointing.
Earlier Rating: 12/24/2007 Total Score: 3.7
Bottle. Dark with no carbonation at all which made for a very flat beer. Quite muddy appearance and a string barley wine taste without being overpowering. In fact it tasted far less stronger than its true strength. Dangerously drinkable.

Rating from Chris_o’s house in 2007 I hadn’t previously entered. This was your typical lower end barley wine. Sweet and hot alcohol. Lacks balance.

3rd May 2009
Clear dark brown beer. Semi dry palate, zero carbonation. Malt and more malt and a slight port likeness. Not much else and quite hard to get down.

Bottle from dad, (cheers dad) shared 21.10.10 Pours reddy brown with a thin white head, bit bubbly but doesn’t come across in the mouth as too fizzy. Quite bitter and thick in the mouth, streaky citrus, strength apparaent but not what I’d call boozy, some orange showing, nice beer. A6 A4 T7 P4 Ov14 3.5

From the Bottle at Chris O’s 05/08/2009 Fruit aroma. Amber red coloured and strong in alcohol with a crisp dry and slightly bitter warming malt finish.

A Mes rate. Bottle at home.
God knows how I have missed this at two Chris O tastings but miss it I have. Strangely, it’s actually worked out well. This is one of those that I would probably have slated with just a sip. Faced with a full bottle, it’s got me boarderline merry and I’m enjoying myself. Very dark murky amber with an impressive off white head. Pleasantly boozy aroma backed up with some good bright fruity notes, slight port and sherry and a hint of chalky bottle conditioning. Similar flavour but with a gorgeous hit of sourness and an equally great tangy fruit character. A slight dusting of liquorice and chocolate with a really tasty lick of tangerine round it off really nicely. Really well done all round. Maybe just a little too boozy but it’s far from offensive. Drinks like a really good English strong ale but with extra knobs on. Good stuff.

Dark amber with a lasting white head. Fruity sweet aroma with some apple peel. Sweet malty and fruity flavour

Bottle at Chris-Os Pre GBBF tasting 2009 ... deep brown ... light toffee ... sweet toffee ... light roast ... over swet.

Bottle at the legend of chriso’s pre GBBF09 tasting. Alround rating: Yeasty, very strong, honey sweetness, unclean and lacking any drinkability. Poor.

Cask gravity at White Cliffs BF 09. Ruby colour, thin beige head. Some vomit on aroma. Doesn’t taste of 10%, good fruit. Nice sourness. It’s good, bit of dark choc. Choccy dark fruit improves as it goes on. Really opens up.