 csbosox (995), Prairie Village, Kansas, USA
Dec 8, 2004 Updated: Jan 27, 2008
Deep red, madeira-like color. Head subsides almost immeadiately. Served in an ~8oz snifter. KILLER aroma. Malt, sweet, raisin? Flavor is malty, sweet, complex, almost like cognac. Hops are apparent in the floral/fruity flavor but the beer is not bitter. It is balanced. With the sheer amount of malt, it took a lot of hops to balance it. This is beer? It seems like so much more. The manager told me this was the ’03. <br /> <br />
<b>RERATE March ’07 (1999 Vintage)</b> This is bottled from a growler(I did the handbottling). It is a 12oz bottle with just about 1" of headspace. Served in my NB snifter. Surprisingly, it poured with a nice, though short-lived, cream colored head. The color is dark orange brown. The aroma is alcohol, overripe dark fruits, cocoa, toffee, oak, vanilla extract laden sugar cookie dough, and a nice, subtle oxidation fitting for a beer 8 years old. The initial taste is huge malt, brown sugar, spice, light warming alcohol, and oak followed by a thick-bodied (despite the low carbonation level) bruiser of a beer, all braggadocio and swagger but getting a little long in the tooth. The main flavors meld so completely into one another that it is just a lovely meld of all the flavors, an earthy, mildly boozy, sweet caramel, and spicy combination. The finish is cleaned up by the alcohol, which does it’s job well, but is still harmonious. This is a great example of one of my favorite barleywines, which may have some age on it, but still has a lot of life-hops and alcohol do have a preservative effect. Score stays the same, it is hard to improve on a 4.7 beer, but make no mistakes, this is not the same beer as it is when young, the somewhat brash hoppy barleywine turns into a regal older gentleman with 8 years on it. A punk rock grandfather?
beastiefan2k (1172), Lawrence (formely NYC), Kansas, USA
Oct 19, 2008 <b>2006</b> on tap @ the brewpub, 2 years old. Multiple snifter fills. The color is murky reddish brown, sometimes pours with a small but lasting head, other times no head. Aroma is is strong with sweet, malty, raisin bread with strong notes of rummy black bread. Not strong on hops but I have been told when fresh this is extremely hoppy. Its not over the top on the nose but its still strong. Taste is thick with light fruitiness (in a good way, not astringent or anything), thick maltiness, with some faint roast that works well, and a lightly bitter rosy rum. Alcohol there but works well with the bigness of the beer, does not stick out much. Mouthfeel is very full yet not dead. Just a bit of burn down the throat on the first sip. Velvet-y feel on the cheeks. I kept drinking it, so I guess I liked it a lot. Stands up to the hype.
cgarvieuk (2601), Edinburgh, Scotland
Oct 18, 2008 <b>Bottle at Fins ... Thanks to Fin for a great weekend and some Real intersting beers... Huge Thanks to Casey for this 3yr old Bottle ... But also a huge thanks to mcbackus who posted a thread in trade forum that made me realise i hadnt entered this and about a dozen others.</b> ... Amber ... sweet malts tofeee and vanilla nose .. Rich deep toffee ... some vanilla again ... deep vine fruits ... For me much better balanced that alesmith numbskull..
Fin (2448), Merton, Oxfordshire, England
Sep 28, 2008 <i> <b> Tasting with Casey, Traci, Craig, Stella and Loz 27-09-08 </i> </b> Pours amber, with a thin white wispy head. Striking bittersweetness, some bonfire toffee. The bitterness is really strung out, good soft squidgy tangerine as well, very likeable.
ThomasE (5075), Copenhagen, Denmark
Sep 5, 2008 Deep brown colour with a tan head. vague roasted, fruity and alcohol sweet aroma with a light hoppy note. fruit and alcohol sweet flavor with hoppy notes.
Papsoe (11030), Frederiksberg, Denmark
Jul 30, 2008 (Hand bottle 65 cl) Courtesy of Storm. Pours an almost clear reddish brown with a beige head. Aroma of nuts, caramel, overripe fruit and alcohol. Quite full-bodied with sweet caramel, yeast, overripe fruit and aroma hops. Rather bitter finish. 260708
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