Fish Tale Leviathan Barleywine (Barrel Aged)

Merritt Island Throwdown ’08: Bottle, courtesy Beershine and Oakes. Mighty fine surprise and addition to an already fine lineup. Pours a dark murky reddish caramel color, with hazy sheets of lacing dripping from a thin wet head. Aromas of cider, bourbon, caramel apple, molasses, brown sugar...lots going on here, but nothing insane. Rich brown sugar flavor; really can’t stress "rich" enough. Very pleasant. Thick molasses, and sweet. The body is full, and very balanced. Has aged exceptionally, and alcohol is pretty much undetectable.

Courtesy of Oakes. Pours a cloudy dark brown with no head. Aroma is mostly caramel. Tastes of dark sweet plums, caramel, little oak taste, and some spice. Palate is mostly sweet and creamy, with a whiskey taste on the back end.

Courtesy of Beershine and Oakes. Damn. Poured the typical murky brown, very little head, if any. The aroma is very solid, with hints of toasted malt, toffee, burnt orange peels, sweet citrus. The flavor is bold, but incredibly well integrated.

Bottle shared by Goldtwins, 2002 vintage, 750. Pours with little head. Buttery, oaky aroma, really massive in the barrel thing, with a bit of chewy old malts and long faded hops. A bit of tobacco and sweet butter in the flavor, hugely oaky but quite tasty. A bit one dimensional, but the huge amount of old oxidized oak is quite nice. A hell of a beer, it’s great to try one of the original BA brews.

Opened by Batch #2 (2000) in 2/2008. The perfect beer. Balanced, smooth, rich, delicious. A combination of a Cuban cigar, leather, and single-malt Scotch. Unbelievable.

Sample Hotshots Feb Indy tasting Batch #3 (2001) - Either this bottle may be past it’s prime or infected. Aroma is vegital, brussel sprout, dark malts, chocolate and earthy hops. Pours cloudy brown with a medium head and good lacing. Flavor loses the veggie (thankfully) and displays some dark fruits like raisin and prune along with some dusty earthy hops and caramel. Palate is sticky and dry. My score still turns out ok, but I think it would be much higher without any veggie.

Batch 3, 11/2001 Ratebeer tasting @ ’06 GABF. Oak, caramel, nutty, and floral aroma. Flavor is sweet brown sugar, caramel, and oak. Tart. Big bodied and kinda sweet.

(Old rating discovered in a dusty pile of forgotten notes.) Pours clear reddish brown. Oxidized apples and caramel nose. Sweet full body. The hops have completely fallen out of this beer after six years, so there’s nothing left to battle against the sweet fruit taste. Oak-dry finish.