Glacier Big Woody Barleywine

Brewed by Glacier BrewHouse
Style: Barley Wine
Anchorage, Alaska USA

Serve in Snifter

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On Tap @ Toronado Barlywine Festival in San Francisco. Very woody, smoke, tastes of bourbon, banana, and ripe fruit. Very lively carbonation (tingly on the palate). The wood and smoke are a bit overwhelming, but it’s a nice brew.

Draft @ Bistro BA Fest. Pours a bright, clear, viscous honey-amber-brown color; mixed-bubbled lacing with good retention and gorgeous, fine-bubbled lacing; great pour. Solid amounts of dried fruits, white pepper, brown sugar in the aroma; dry and basic barrel character. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: loads of toasty, charred oak, dried oranges and dried dark fruits, caramel and creamy malt goodness; nicely blended and toasty barleywine with just a touch of warming, soft alcohol; nice beer. Lengthy finish: bitter earthiness, chewy dried fruits and caramel; nicely balanced, limited sweetness.

UPDATED: JAN 29, 2010 Draft @ Glacier Brewhouse; was eager to try this again after being disappointed by it at Hard Liver; dense brown with foamy white head; malty sugars and caramel with oak, vanilla cookies; winey rich with an almost port-like sweetness; medium body with touch of oxidation; chaulky and dry finish; pretty solid overall and maybe a tad too sweet

Original rating (3.2 overall): draft @ hard liver ’09 - with all the buildup, this sucker fell flat on its face IMO; clear, amber, slight white head; lemony hops, woody, light caramel; thin texture, mild flavor profile; eh; as Mike LaFontaine would say, "Wha’ Happen?"

On tap at Hard Liver 2010 - named the winner at the festival. Deep red pour with a small head, dissipating to a pretty little ring of bubbles. Powerful oak notes, with bourbon and vanilla on the nose. Smells a little hot, but the flavor really does pull through on this one. Lots of wood, but not bourbon - more like fresh-cut oak. I really feel like this is what Angels Share should taste like. It has the complexity (toffee, caramel, vanilla, oak, some fruit, etc.) - but isn’t quite as much of a punch-you-in-the-face palate bomb. Really good.

2008 Bistro Barrel Aged Fest. Amber, sweet, fruity, malty, bit tart, bourbon, wood, vanilla.

Tap @ Chicago Barrel Aged Beer Festival. Aroma of pineapple, peaches, dry grain and alcohol. Very soft and slightly sweet flavor. Oak and winey grapes become apparent in the flavor. It's sort of odd to me, aging beer in Napa Valley wine barrels, but it was surprisingly good.

Sampled from the tap at 2010 FOBAB. Poured a near clear dark brown with an amber hue and a yellowish gray head that lasted throughout the beer. Aroma had bourbon with sweet grain and a bit of biscuit. Flavor started with sweet grain, biscuit and caramel but a slight bourbon and dry note rounded out the beer nicely.

Brouwers Hard Liver Fest 2009. One of my favorites of the fest. Big sweetness up front, but enough bitterness to keep it from being cloying. Chewy body, lots of caramel and cherry notes. Bourbon is on the softer side, not the big vanilla that some of them had, siding more with the oak flavors, more mellowed. Hops had died in floralness, but provided enough bitterness to counter some of the sweetness.

Draft. Mahogony beer with a cream colored head. Malt and light toffee aroma. Toffee and malt flavor with light oak. Medium bodied. Oak lingers with toffee and malt.

On tap @ Glacier Brewhouse. Had an 06, 07, and 2010 during the 12 days of Barley Wine but will rate the 07 my favorite of the night aged in virgin French oak barrels for 1 year. Pours deep mahogany with a small off white head. Aroma of caramel, raisins, oak and alcohol. Flavor is sweet caramel malt with light bitterness and a very light alcohol taste. Medium to full body with mild carbonation and a syrupy mouth feel. This is a nice wood aged Barley Wine, the oak drys it out a bit which is nice compared to the fresh stainless steel aged batch.