Fish Tale Leviathan Barleywine (Barrel Aged)

Formerly brewed at Fish Brewing Company/Leavenworth Beers
Style: Barley Wine
Olympia, Washington USA

750mL bottle, Brickskeller; batch #2, bottled November 2000. Pours a reddish-brown color; off-white head with good retention and lacing. Lots of caramel and dried fruits and vinous notes; dense, chewy aroma, with some mild oxidation. Full mouthfeel: light dried caramel character from oxidation; relaxed carbonation; dense, chewy malt core with some dried fruits and caramel; wonderful density and flavor profile, with the merlot aging appearing at the edges, adding a tannic character that compensates for the lack of hops at this age (citrus integrated by now); toasty vanilla and hints of marshmallow. Lengthy, chewy caramel and dried fruit finish.

Bottle shared at the Columbus Tasting V: shared by Ohiodad. Brown-amber pour with a light tan head. Aroma of oak, malt, caramel, vanilla, and some dark fruits. Flavors of oak, earthy hops, caramel malt came through in this one. Solid body, smooth carbnation with a sweet/dry finsh. Good stuff and seems to be aging quite gracefully.

Bottle. November 2002. Pours a murky ruby body with a small ring of white head. Yeasty aroma, dark bread, toffee, caramel, and lots of dough. Some alcohol also appears as it warms up. Flavourful with tart fruits and tasty hop bitterness. Finishes with a solid smack of wine barrel notes. Very good.

Photo of the bottle and glass:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdstich/424309415

750 ml bottled ’02. Big thanks to drewbeerme, for sharing this coveted brew. I’ve wanted to try this one for awhile but didn’t think I’d ever get the chance. We put this one next to the non-ba version of the leviathan. Thick rasin color with a beige ring of a head.. Oxidized soy sauce aroma. whew. that’s taking over everything at first but after twenty minutes it seems to go away. With that is a sour cherry wood aroma that’s hidden underneath and is really nice when it starts to come out. Prune, cherry, oak, alcohol, sweet, sour flavors, as the oxidized flavors fade more chocolate comes out and this becomes more and more tasty. Medium bodied and still good overall, but I really bet this was amazing a few years ago.

750ml, batch 4, bottled 2004. huge thanks to 11026 for this bottle! sampled next to regular Leviathan. pours a very deep mahogony that is one of the best colors in a beer i’ve seen, little white head around the rim. nose has noticible oxidation, red wine, cherries, pears, and caramel. flavor has real nice merlot, vanilla, cherries, pear, and caramel. it’s too bad it’s past it’s prime and the flavor just drops off and you can tell time got the best of this one. body is too thin. alcohol is very well hidden. this got really tasty as it warmed up and lost carbination.

Shared by ohiodad at CT V, thanks! Aroma of oak and wood. It was also caramel, malty, and some brown sugar. Flavor was sweet , oak, and very smooth. Poured a dark brown with a little cloudiness. Had a little vinous feel to it.

Ours a dark cloudy brown. Malty sweet aroma. Sugary caramel taste with some hints of grape. Alcohol finish.

’01 Vintage shared by the incredible OhioDad at C-bus tasting 5. Also the last beer to have the priviledge of making it into my notes...Caramel malt, alcohol, and some vinuous aromas come from a dark brown body. Flavor is the same as the aroma--and very nice--with definite alcohol presence.