Cricket Hill Brewmaster’s Reserve #03 Barleywine

Brewed by Cricket Hill Brewing Co.
Style: Barley Wine
Fairfield, New Jersey USA

Serve in Snifter

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22 ounce from 2011 summer Secret Santa. Big caramel sugar taste. Sweet. Nice nose. Reviews a bit too unkind for this one.

22oz bottle pours a hazy copper amber with some clumpy white head. Smells like the pellets that heat a pellet stove, woody, caramel, vegetal, metallic, oranges. Flavor is metallic, sweet, orange, caramel, green pepper, apple. Full bodied, sweet finish. Needs 3 to 4 years in the bottle.

Bottle from 2009. Pours a nice burnt orange, like the university of Texas’ color, with some head that fades. Nose is malty sweetness and almonds. First sip is smooth and plesant with flavors of blood orange follow by caramel. Finish is thin but nice flavors and smoothness.

Shared with Joe after moving him to Baltimore. Clear amber with white sticky head. Nose is a bready, flavor is malty and kinda subtley fruity. Overall, nothing special, but kinda tasty and and a little bitter on the finish. Meh.

Bottle. Pours a clear amber color with a small off-white head. Has a fruity sweetish malty dark fruit aroma. Fruity malty dark fruit and caramel flavor. Has a fruity malty spicy dark fruit finish.

22oz bottle: Pours a clear deep copper amber with a spotty-lacing off-white head. Has a sweet toasty caramel and light fruity nose with some floral grapefruity hop notes. Starts with pretty good fullness and light fruity caramel sweetness with some crisp citrusy hop flavor and bitter balance before a true to style bittersweet resiny finish with a touch of warmth. A nice American-style barleywine.

Bomber thanks to jcwattsrutgers.
Appearance : Clear amber with a small head.
Aroma : Herbal hops with caramel malt. Light oxidation. Nice sugar.
Taste : Caramel and herbal hops. Malt.
Overall : Quite a lot of herbal hops with nice caramel. Nothing very special but enjoyable. Nice hop profile.

Thanks to mdfb79 for bringing this to a recent tasting. Always love trying a new brew that I haven’t heard anything about before. Served in a snifter. Pours a medium copper color with a single-finger white head that fades down somewhat quickly and leaves no lacing behind. Half a collar sits around the edges of the beer. The nose brings a really strong grainy presence with a bit of booze as well as some faint dark fruits characteristics in the background. The taste is more grain and booze. Mouthfeel is medium with a fair amount of carbonation and some alcohol. Drinkability is okay; nothing offensive, though I wasn’t in a hurry to get through this. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 12-19-2010

Location: 22 oz bottle from Buy Rite - Jersey City, 3/11/11

Aroma: Sweet caramel malts on the nose with some sugary aromas, and some citrus
Appearance: The pours a slightly hazy amber color with a small white head and some lace
Flavor: The taste is fairly sweet (caramel, fruit), with some earthy and floral hop flavors
Palate: Medium bodied, slightly sticky mouthfeel, fairly soft carbonation, and a cloying finish
Overall Impression: Overall, this is a fairly mediocre example of the style. It is probably a bit too sweet, and the flavor is a somewhat off too. There’s nothing terribly wrong with it, it’s just not great. The drinkability is decent enough, but it ends up coating your mouth in a sugary stickiness. It isn’t something I could see anyone rushing out for again.

Pours a reddish brown color with a thin carbonated off white head. Smells a little bit like brown sugar. Similar to a barley wine but not really. Taste is okay. Bit of a weird aftertaste. Maybe a bit like sugary cardboard.