Fat Heads Hop Lightning

Brewed by Fat Head’s Brewery & Saloon
Style: Barley Wine
North Olmsted, Ohio USA

Serve in Snifter

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Growler courtesy of miketd. Pours a hazy copper with a lasting, rocky white head. Smells of citrus, spice, caramel, resiny, breaddy. Tastes of caramel, resiny, some molasses, some bitterness on the finish. Decent.

San Diego Strong Ale Fest 2010. Hazy dark amber color/ off white head. Nice fresh pine, floral, tea leaf hop aromas. medium bodied. Big tea leaf, pine sap hoppy flavors with a spicy toasted caramel sweet base, big bitter finish.

Growler from miketd. Murky amber with a medium biege head. Nose of citrus and light pine mixed with light malty maple-toffee notes. Flavor is bitter with lots of malty caramel and toffee. In between a barleywine and a DIPA IMHO!

Growler, courtesy miketd via CheeseMan. Pours a hazy, deep orange-amber color with a moderate head of bubbly, beige tinted froth. Settling to a thin, swirly film, the head leaves micro-spots and skinny flares of lacing scattered about the glass. The nose is monstrously hopped, showing basically like a double (or possibly even triple) IPA. Huge notes of grapefruit, grass, and pine resin dominate, while pepper and orange peel offer further hoppy depth. Underlying notes of toast and toffee struggle to keep up under the aromatic hops. Flavors follow suit, again ultra-hoppy and bitter, with biting citrus and grass, and strikingly powerful pine resin. Medium-full on the palate, the big, sticky body goes down with a good deal of alcohol burn, leaving a lingering bitternes on the back of the tongue. Very good if you’re into uber-hopped barleywines. This one is not for the malt-heads.

Growler shared at DLD by sliffy, I think. Pours a copper hue, reddish fiery edges make way for a decent haze, a small offwhite head that laces pretty well considering. Aromas are caramel and toffee malts, grassy earthy hops moving into more citrusy lemon and grapefruit, some sweeter fruits, pine. Initial is similar, pretty heavy bodied with thicker caramel and toffee, earthy and citrus hops with flashes of pine coming in strong as well. Pretty good, a little heavy for me but the hops are very nice.

UPDATED: JAN 15, 2010 Sample at Fat Heads. Pours a clear amber with a medium beige head. Nose is earthy hops with some malty sweetness. Bitter earthy hop flavor with a bit of sweetness before a bitter finish.

Sampled at Hell With the Lid Off. Juicy hop aroma, resin and citrus and light grassy notes. Mild sweet fruity notes and syrupy sweet tang. Orange amber with light haze, no head. Medium watery body, slightly oily, with medium carbonation and alcoholic warming. Big beer with tons of sweet malt, alcohol, brown sugar, and mild carbonic acidity. A big load of bitterness, too. Tons of hops from middle to finish. A real palate killer. Needs some aging.

Draft at the San Diego Strong Ale Fest 2010. Reddish amber pour, off-white head. Caramel malt, citrus, bitter hops, toffee, and bread. Ok

growler shared by the c-bus crew at dlday 2010... pours a hazy copper brown pour with a thin off-white head... aroma had a bit of citrus as well as some caramel/toffee maltiness.... flavors were mostly sweet, even a little bitter, alongside some butter notes. smooth bodied and a little boozy.

This poured a semi clear dark orange color with a beige head. Aroma was nice piney hops masking lots of sweet sugary and caramel notes. Flavor was very well balanced, enough great hops to keep it from being overly sweet and cloying, but balanced enough to keep it a barleywine and not venture towards the double IPA style.