Grand Lake Super Chicken Barley Wine

Brewed by Grand Lake Brewing Co
Style: Barley Wine
Grand Lake, Colorado USA

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

Cherry orange. Teeny-bubbled ring of foam. Sugared plums, grapey malts, and spruce tips in the aroma. Hint of fruitcake, smoke, and malt dust. Tight carbonation. Slipperiness is coarsened by a touch of coniferous accented bitterness. Alcohol lends some astringency and underlines the more-pungent hop aspects. Cakey with a thickset malt base (maris otter?) that masks much of the polished hop traits, but works to sustain the body. Prickly bitterness conveys a sense of salty licorice candy, which exaggerates the dryness and awakens a hint of chocolate. Marvelously balanced, throughout, with a late but salvaging medley of candied apples, alcohol, and supple malt to go along with the piney hop flash. Tolerably sweet finish of soggy plums and grapey malts capped with a bright hop tease. Not overly interesting, but nicely done.

Poured a deep brown, very reminiscent of coca-cola. Absolutely no head. Aroma is toffee, caramel, bourbon, wood, raisins, and alcohol. Taste is bourbon, plum, caramel, and ends with a slight alcohol burn. No carbonation, which is kind of a downer for me. Very unbalanced barley wine. I will have to try this again because of the rest of the ratings I am seeing. I wonder if I got a bad bottle.

Bottle @ Aarons place, Thanks. Pours slightly hazy brown, no head. Aroma is malty, caramel, dry wood, nuts. Taste is rather dry with malt, caramel, dry wood, nutty, light hops. Medium body, low carbonation, dry finish. 020312

Bottle @ home. Deep brown appearance with a light brown head. Very rich caramel, somewhat fruity, floral hoppy aroma. Pretty dry, floral, red fruity, caramel flavor with a fairly dry finish. Ok.

bottle. pours dark brown with small head. aroma of candied sugar, burnt toast, a touch of licorice, and some raisin. flavor is quite similar, and is a touch too sweet. bold prune and raisin come out initially, with some hints of tobacco in the finish. slightly warming, but not overly boozy by any means. that said, it was a tad cloying...not bad...thin body

Pours hazy reddish black with off white head, aroma has notes of toffee, brown sugar, some slight chocolate, pine and citrus notes in there as well, no alcohol. Taste is pretty smooth but not overly flavorful, notes of pine and citrus, some nice vanilla, brown sugar, toffee, with a slight pine bitterness, finishing bitter. Again no alcohol in there, pretty tasty.

Bottle with Carla. Pours a hazy nut brown with tan foam. Smells sweet of alcohol and nutty barley. Tastes sweet and lightly nutty of maple, licorice and plant matter.

Dark brown pour. Light carbonation. Resin, brown sugar and fruity aromas. Resinous hops throughout, sweet malts, bread, brown sugar. Nice!

intense piney aroma with some sweet chocolate caramel candy apple as well, smells delicious, appearance is a dark brown, taste is a sweet caramel slight fruityish with a nice piney hop bitterness lingering the entire drink

12oz Bottle picked up in Colorado back in 2009 at GABF and finally cracked it. Pours out amber/brown topped with a small cream head. Aroma was sweet caramel, toffee, brown sugar, rich malts, nuts, and a little pit fruit. Taste was sweetness all over nothing stopping the sweet train.

15th March 2009
Clear dark brown beer. Smooth and light palate. Intense sourish malt with an alcohol aniseed note. Smooth dry warming finish. Not bad but the alcohol is a bit obvious.