Destihl Triton Barleywine

Brewed by Destihl Restaurant and Brew Works
Style: Barley Wine
Normal, Illinois USA

Serve in Snifter

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Sampled @ GTMW ’09 - Pours deep amber with barely a head. Smells of bourbon, raisins, toffe, caramel--just about everything looking for in a BB barley wine. Taste is more of the same, with a nice booze/hops finish. Some barley wines dial up the hops too much or feel like they need a chaser or a mixer. This was smooth and never made me cringe--I loved it.

Draft at Champaign Destihl in tulip. Thick dark reddish brown with minimal head by the time it got to me. Aroma mainly sweet caramel. Taste matched with sweet caramel and toffee, plus some hops. Described as an American barleywine, to me the hops were midway between the strong presence of many US barleywines and the minimal presence of the British barleywines. Palate thick but not sticky or syrupy. Finish mild to moderate hops. Slight alcohol apparent.

I liked it.

Draft @ FoBAB 2009, Chicago, IL. Pours a slightly hazy amber color with a small off-white head. Has a sweetish malty hoppy caramel aroma with weak oaky hints. Has a sweetish malty darak fruit and caramel flavor with hoppy hints and hints of bourbon and vanilla. Has a sweetish malty hoppy bitter caramel finish with hints of vanilla and bourbon.

[Tap] Pours a tawny brown color with a small white head. Sweet and alcoholic aroma of malts in addition to moderate hopping. The taste is mainly malty, with toffee, biscuit, caramel and bourbon. The hops are there as well, although they take a back seat to the malty backbone. Average mouthfeel for the style. Lingering bitter hop notes in the finish along with a small degree of alcohol warming. It was pretty good and I’d probably order it again.

UPDATED: AUG 8, 2010 @CBC–on tap-pours an off white ring for a head and cloudy amber color. Aroma is fruit, medium malt. Taste is sweet fruit, medium malt. Slick mouth feel, secondary earthy hops. 3.2 *100528-Destihl BBA Triton BW–on tap @brewpub-pours a tan head and hazy copper color. Aroma is dark fruit-raisin, medium malt-caramel/toffee, wood. Tastes is dark fruit-raisin, medium malt-caramel/toffee, wood/vanilla/bourbon. 3.6

On tap at the brewpub (Bloomington, IL). Pours a nice darker opaque amber, no real light getting through, moderate offwhite head laces ok, rings at the top. Aromas are malty, caramel and toffee, floral hops, biscuits and marmalade. Initial is raisins and dark fruit, caramel and toffee, marmalade, floral hops are lighter as the malt body steals the show. Raisins, orange maramalade, biscuits, toffee, a touch of toast. Light sweet sticky finish, fuller on the palate. A nice barleywine

Dark, slighty hazy Red brown. Nose is boozy. Raisins, vanilla, wood. Grains. On taste, the bourbon barrel comes through above most else, but over time it balances back out somewhat. Still, a big barrel-aged barleywine with slight tart note. Okay.

This is a very good BRITISH style barleywine. Hops take the backseat to some powerful malt here. Great example of malt flavor without being overly sweet. Oily laced head, and very full in the mouth. Would be great to be able to cellar this for a few years and get some positive oxidization.

Served in a ridiculous oversized snifter, cloudy, almost grayish??. But taste is pretty good, not as strong/heavy hopped as most barleys, and not much of the "alcohol" flavor you would expect from a 10% barley.

On tap on 12/18/09 and served in an greatly over sized snifter. Arrived to the table with a semi-viscous look to it, dark ruby brown highlights (burnt caramel looking), filmy off-white head that quickly fades down to a few spotty, scum spots. Heavy toasted grainy note, caramel sweetness, lots of citrus hops, estery fruity note - apple, light banana and plum notes. Nose is reminiscent of a Belgian strong ale more so than a barley wine. Flavor beings with a strong ester fruitiness, some light raspberry fruitiness from the yeast, very sugary sweet, modest hops bite but most of the flavor is from the malt. A very sweet candy sugar presence is there as well. Hops adds a very mild citrus and low grassy presence. Body is very full with a high carbonation that makes the flavors pop. This brew has a very, very sticky texture with great head retention. Overall an excellent beer. Alcohol not hot at all, even with the 10% ABV content. Flavor has a hops presence but not as strong as you normally find for barley wines and the yeast used produces a very strong estery note in the nose and flavor, really making it feel more like a Belgian strong ale. Overall a pretty unique brew but one that is very good.

From the infuser at the GTMW. Speckled mud color with next to no head and a chunk of oak floating in my glass. Aroma of brown sugar, oak, alcohol, caramel and a touch of bourbon. Pretty smooth consistency with moderate alcohol bite at the end. Brown sugar, toffee, oak, mild fruit and caramel dominate the flavors with only a minor hop presence. Pretty solid effort.