3.7 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20Taster, on tap at Downers Grove. This smells like a fresher barley wine, what with its citrusy hop smell. A thinning layer of foam. Hops are more bitter than anything else, I’m guessing Northern Brewers at the top of the bill. Light texture lets more malt character out, too. A nice, though brusque taste.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Big and caramally. This one has the flavor is delicate candies and sweetness. There is a hint of hoppy bitterness in the finish. A nice one.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Keg poured into a snifter courtesy of a good friend BeeJay (davinci). Pours a deep unclear brown with a small creamy light tan head. Aroma is very strong heavy caramel, burnt candy, some sweet fruit cake notes, a strong sweet hop presence. Flavor is even more burnt and caramel than aroma. Lots of toffee and sweet spiced cake, The hops really come out in the finish with a strong resin notes that fit nicely. Medium to full body and a soft carbonation. A pretty tasty barley wine.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Draught at the pub in Palatine under the name American Barleywine. Has a rich piney aroma with some malty fruity notes. Richly flavored with a potent sweet malty presence and a floral piney hops that balances but is not overpowering in either dimension. Nice big barleywine that delivers a lot of flavor and punch with surprising balance.
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
On tap at Palatine location. Served in snifter. Pours hazy brown with small light tan head. Aromas of caramel, malts, toffee, some hops. Flavors of malts, caramel, toffee, and some hop bitterness. Really malty BW that is lacking complex flavors you come to expect from a good barley wine. Alcohol is well hidden. Not to bad overall.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
as the description claims, this was a big barleywine, but huge on the malt and without a real distinctive hop character for me. i got the nice bitterness in the finish, but not the spicy and floweryness aluded to in the description. the body was huge and sticky with the faintest hint of alcohol, but very faint mind you. very roasty with coffee character coming through. I had a snifter of this at the downers grove location.
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
On tap at the West Dundee location. Brown/dark ruby red in color with a dark tan head, only partially diminishing. Citric aroma, mainly grapefruit, with a caramally/brown sugar maltiness that lends a very nice balance. Bitter, resinous flavor, with a decent burnt and roasty malt undertone. Rather highly carbonated, a touch too much for my tastes. The 10% alcohol really is well hidden.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Served in a snifter from the palatine location. Dark dark with a thin quickly discipating tan greyish head. As the light passes through it the dark is more of a fine dark ruby that is crystal clear, no sediment. The nose is faintly present at a distance with malts that are roasted. Initially the first bite is hippy but quickly fades into plums or even black fruit snacks or something then into malts that is mostly toasted and roasted malts that is more bitter towards the end. What is interesting about this bitter is that it has the feel or the presence of bitter mostly found in coffee kind of bitter but I dont really get any coffee from this. I bet that the bitter is from the hops without that hop kick found in some of their other beers. Another thing, it says that this is 10% alcohol but this beer is quite deceptive. Alcohol is not really present but I could feel it when I got up (not eating anything all day probably didnt hurt).
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