Fat Heads Hop Lightning

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

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

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.

Cask, poured a dark golden color with a nice white head. Extremely hoppy aroma, mokre of a DIPA that a Barleywine. Rich malty flavors balanced with big citrus hop flavors. Smooth medium mouthfeel and a lingering hoppy finish. This beer smells amazing but the flavor isn’t quite up to par, but it is still a delicious barleywine, that like another rater suggest would probably exceptional with some age, so start bottling Fat Head’s!

On tap pours clear reddish hue with thick head. Aroma smells more like a hop bomb than a IIPA. Citrus and pine dominate with a malt presence. Medium mouthfeel. Flavor upfront is brutally bitter, has a malty touch in there somewhere, and finishes with a brutal bitter punch that lingers. This is pretty hot right now and would probably be even tastier as an aged version. I would be curious to see how the hops hold up over time and change. Another solid offering from one of my favorite brewers in the area.

On tap at brewpub
A solid all around effort this is a heavy hitting barleywine that almost demands your full attention. At 11% ABV you will not be drinking much of this. I can only imagine what happened to it in the cask. If it were not so strong I probably would have asked for a sample to find out. All barleywines should be this complex (but probably not this heavy). Again a clear winner from the guys in North Olmstead.

Aroma / Appearance - Hazy and flat as befits a beer this big the head was long gone by the time I got around to giving this its due. The nose was sharp like hardwood floors which had been polished until you could see the clouds reflecting from the sky. It almost straddles that thin line between barley wine and old ale.

Flavor / Palate - Heavy and chewy this one takes time to figure out. Reflecting I picked up hoppy caramel bites and then a finish like oak chips soaked in malt. A fine winter warmer this one brought me crashing back to the snow and chill of a Midwestern winter. Were it not for other obligations I would have spent all evening at Fat Head’s avoiding it by drinking these.

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.

Amber, no head. Aroma is very syrupy, strong apricot, peach, citrus notes- lots of residual sugar... Not sure if it is appealing or over the top... Taste is pretty hoppy, light apricot peel, some alcohol warming, interesting.

Copper pour with tan head, earthy hops, good caramel malt, sweet and bitter on the finish.

Enjoyed via draft at the brewery in a sampling glass. The beer pours a slightly-darker-than-medium amber color, with a fairly small white head. Strong hop character to the nose, almost resembling a malty double IPA. West coast hops come through, lending a citrusy/piney character. A pleasing melange of malt aromas also come through, although it is difficult to point out any one particular flavor. The palate is bitter up front, although this is mitigated by a malt sweetness that carries throughout the beer. The beer lives up to its name as an aggressively bitter barley wine, but the aforementioned malt sweetness keeps it from straying far out of the large flavor bounds of the style. The finish leaves a residual sweetness/bitterness combination that feels almost thick on the tongue. It would be interesting to try this in a few years. Overall, well done.

Growler, courtesy Cheeseman. This pours a deep reddish orange color topped by a small head of tan colored foam. The head leaves some skinny lines of lace around the glass. The aroma is very hoppy showing notes of pine resin, grass, and bitter grapefruit. Orange peel and peppery spices lend further depth. Toffee and toasted caramel malt lend the base, but can’t hold up to all the hops. The flavor follows suit and is extremely hoppy and bitter from the pine resin, grapefruit, citrus, and peppery hops. The toffee malt adds a touch of sweetness, but can’t balance out all the hops. Medium to full bodied and sticky on the palate that finishes with some lingering bitterness and alcohol heat. This is a nice hopped up barley wine. If you are a hop head this is for you.