3.3 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
20080329 Blind tasting notes and score from Cornboy 2nd annual Barleywine Extravaganza. Bit oxidized but still some life in it. Decent, balanced, simple. Proof you do not have to blow the doors off to make a serviceable, drinkable, yet still very strong ale.
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
22 fl oz bottle. Pours hazy orange with a small white. Aroma is mild spiced and light spiced and malty. Smooth and sweet flavoured with a mild spice note. Smooth sweet and malty finish.
3.5 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
This is a nice, pale barley wine. Pours straw color with a thin white head. Light aroma, but the flavor is nice. Hints of vanilla and fruits. Layered nicely with a spicy hop finish. It’s a good beer by the fire.
3.5 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
(Bottle 65 cl) Courtesy of Skyview. Hazy golden with an off-white head. Sweetish malty nose with some fruit and alcohol. Quite full-bodied with sweet overripe fruit and burned caramel. Pleasantly spicy with a lightly bitter finish. Pleasant. 311008
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Bottle. [Tasting session @ Papsoe, 31-10-2008] Average creamy off-white head that mostly lasted. Good display of lacework. Cloudy golden color. Aroma of mild bread, grain, vinous. Quite tasty. Medium bodied with an average carbonation. Moderated sweet flavor with good counter bitterness. Vinous malty warming finish.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
ABR 2008. Aroma is grain with a light fruitiness. Great flavor, sweet but not too sweet with a bit of bitterness to finish.
2.1 AROMA 3/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 4/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 9/20
UPDATED: NOV 19, 2008 ABR ’08 - Poured golden with a moderate off white head. The nose is pretty bland, with wet cardboard and grains with little hops. Came across the palate about the same pretty much the same. This sis the second time I tried it and I’ve come to realize that I do not like Golden English style Barley-wines. Delirium Tremes Tastes similar; not a fan.
2.2 AROMA 3/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 8/20
[Bottle] Poured at a blind tasting at the Cellars. Poured golden with a moderate off white head. Aroma is pretty bland, with wet cardboard and grains with little hops. Flavor is pretty much the same. Moderate/thin mouthfeel, and nothing like what I’d expect from a barleywine.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Is, as pledged, quite gold, wispy white head. Nose quite sweet, bit of alcohol in it, a mite strong. Flavor is sweet, quite grainy, but not particularly unpleasantly so; up the grain flavor just a bit and give it to me in a blind tasting, and I’d have guessed European Strong Lager. Still, alcohol is well-masked, quite drinkable, pleasantly sweet. While its label says it’s an English-style barleywine, I don’t really get that vibe; I tend to expect butterscotch, toffee, caramel, things like that. Here, I get alcohol and sugars, yet they play well enough together that they’re not offensive. Not bad, rather enjoyedit.
3.8 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Into my Flat Earth snifter you go, Winter Warlock....the name and occasion is apt, as I thought last week, when we spent time in summery sun and basked in 60-degree weather, and the melting snow slipped out the sins of winter, that spring was finally here, at last. I was the fool, and the magician who rules the weather made a mockery of my delight...we’re back at winter again, for awhile, and it’s warlock now rules us. Aw, well... on to investigate this ale.You are golden, sorcerer, with a quickly gone head... your aroma is mostly rich, sweet, boozy malt...I’m not feeling much more from it. Taste: more slick, more sweet, more malt, more booze...not exactly what I expect from the barleywines I enjoy most, and have historically found to my favor, but it is quite nice in it’s own regard. Lacks the hops of many of those, and leans heavily on the malt...something about that dynamic takes it somewhere else, indeed. Golden, bright, crisp, and, yes, boozy...the 9 % isn’t shy at all. Not that I’m complaining.I think Jeff Williamson has a thing for Fantasy/Sci-Fi/sword & sorcery,Tolkien, mythology, etc...not that I’ve played Dungeons & Dragons with him, but I bet if you played craps at his house, the dice would be twelve-sided. Sweetness is just right for a dessert or a nightcap, and the alcoholic warmth is well-needed in chilly evening (okay, mornings) as this... ’tis a fine ale...works nice, tonight ...another winner from Flat Earth.
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