Finch’s Altus Gravitas

Brewed by Finch’s Beer Company
Style: Barley Wine
Chicago, Illinois USA

Serve in Snifter

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Courtesy of tooch4321

Bottle: The aroma consists of moderate-heavy caramel, toffee, and fruit. It pours a slightly hazy amber with a small off-white head that quickly fades to a thin film outlined by a slightly thicker ring. The flavor starts with moderate-heavy caramel with light toffee. The finish has muted citrus hops and oxidation. It’s medium bodied with mild carbonation.

Muddy apple cider color, with scant, whispy, off-white head / Nose of sour malt and cooked fruit / Full body, bitter with some sweetness, sour, low fruit, dull / Flavors, or absence thereof, of caramel and cooked fruit / I have had good experiences with Finch’s, but I don’t know how this was released. Something went wrong and this should have been scrapped.

Plastic topped bomber bottle (okay if that is wax, it is cheap crap) and served in Duvel snifter: Deep coppery hue with a rock frothy slightly off-white head and nice lace. The aroma has notes of resiny, oniony, catty, piney and slightly citric hops. Moderate caramel and biscuity malts, some dill and allspice esters along with touch of butterscotch British yeast ester. The taste is quite resiny, herbal, bile and highly alpha acidic. There is some sweet malt bouncing about but is strictly a annoyance. This may as well been a cleaner DIPA for it taste profile fails as a Barley wine. The mouth feel is aggressive and biting with a metallic and aspirin finish. Poor hop combination leads to a poor tasting brew, pass.

22 oz. bottle: Pours a cloudy burnt orange with a medium off- white head that is mostly lasting. Aroma has a hoppy nose with hints of pine, orange peel, caramel, and a alcohol presence. Flavor starts sweet with hints of a boozy rye, toffee & dark fruits. Mouthfeel has a creamy texture with a peppery presence that finishes with a piney bitterness. The hop presence is more than I like in a Barley Wine. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Bottle pours a murky amber/brown with a thin khaki head. Aroma of dirty caramel malts, dates, slight orange, and fading hops. Taste is sweet caramel, with oranges, dried dark fruits, and some spearmint hops. Not bad, drinkable, not very exciting, overall a pretty average Barely Wine.

Bottle:   Deep amber, dirty and cloudy, large foamy tannish head, nice lacing.   Piney nose, a little barnish, mealy, burnt brown sugar, candied citrus peel, and pith.   Resiny and pithy on the tongue, slight sweetness... make that REALLY pithy.   Its hoppy, malty, some caramel, but seems out of balance.   A little bit of a gag reflex with the astringent pithiness on this one.   Not terribly smooth, a bit rough.   Smells halfway decent, but on the tongue its a bit of a mess, and even a little biting in an astringent chalky pithy way.   Hard to describe this one other than seemingly very green, young, rough around the edges, rough in the middle.   Its warming, but thankfully the 9% ABV is not too hot.   Body and mouthfeel are moderate.   Thankfully not thin, thick, or cloying.   Comes across as really rough, pithy, and a bit out of balance.   Its like an Englsh Barley Wine as its too hoppy, moreso a malt side, but the uber pithiness and astringency sorta kill it.   Very rough.   Thanks for the bottle Bob!

Draft at GTMW 12. I guess I’m somewhat in the minority here. I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Pours a deep reddish copper with an offwhite head. The nose showing dark fruits, subtle earthy and herbal hops and big toffee. Clean fermentation profile overall that works very well here. On tasting, big bodied with a chewy mouthfeel and sticky caramel/toffee qualities. Dark fruits and raisins come through, along with some alcohol. Again, pretty clean, if a touch harsh. The bitterness is big and really helps to support the sweetness and aid in drying it back out. Pretty likable overall.

Bomber. Poured clear, deeper orange with a short, dense beige head.. nice color to it. The aroma picked up artificially-sweetened medium-skinned fruits, toffee, bready notes, and molasses.. some peppery warmth to it, but well-balanced considering the ABV.. kind of dank, greener hops around.. messy overall. The flavor opened with peppery and rye-like boozy notes, with sweet caramel, molasses, and fruits following.. quite bitter and spicy around, showing some herbal and citrus notes.. hot finish with muddled malts and a lot of bitterness. Heavier-bodied with low carbonation on the palate.. hot and not very cohesive.. this was an OK beer, and not a good barley wine.

22 oz bottle purchased from Binnys South Loop (Chicago, IL). Shared at the Letts Compound. Pours a well hazed deeper dark amber pour, touches of brown, some gentle amber and orange glow with a frothy whitish head atop. Dies to a film, laces small overall. Aromas are sweeter slanted, a boatload of toffee, caramel, some growing dark fruit. Gentle soap and floral hopping gives some influence, touches of oxidation, some cardboard, gentle yeasty quality. Soap, chestnuts, and sweet sticky malts. Initial is heavier end of medium bodied, with some firm floral and dry hops, grass, earthy bitterness gives a firm hit up front. Sticky sweeter toffee, caramel, biscuits. A bit bigger than I hoped for. Deeper dark fruit raisin, gentle orange kiss, as it dries out and shows oxidized presence into the backend, dry hops. An odd beer, lacing coherence. Big beer, odd experience as far as how the elements tie together. An example of a big beer that is big, dry, well hopped yet with a girthy malt body.. But lacks character. Ok.. Too sweet and big for me despite the big dose of dryness, a bit simple as far as complexity. An ok beer, but as far as Barleywines, behind the pack.