drjay44 (760), Salida, Colorado, USA Sep 9, 2008 22 oz. bottle...pours happy high head which gradually disappears, nice copper color, some lacing...nose rather mild, pleasant hops, with some minor floral and pine...tastes of malts, a bit of sweet, perhaps toffee, with a bitter finish. It has a good mouth feel. Rather mild for the style, with not quite enough malt and hop layers, but very nicely balanced and a pleasant brew. ChainGangGuy (2523), Kennesaw, Georgia, USA Sep 8, 2008 Appearance: Pours a hazy, dark amber body with a rather thin ring of beige-colored bubbles.
Smell: The aroma is packed with pine needles and ruby red grapefruit -- any maltiness seems to be an afterthought.
Taste: Dry, biscuity maltiness with the vaguest hints of brown sugar and dark caramel. Full hoppiness with an intense bitterness for a so-called barleywine. Plenty piney and chock full of grapefruit, maybe a bit of wood in there as well. Warming on the bitter, woody finish.
Mouthfeel: Full-bodied. Medium-low carbonation.
Drinkability: Not a bad DIPA! As a barleywine, it’s definitely coming up short in terms of malt depth. Sure, you could chalk it up to merely being "young", but I just don’t see enough malt character present to really ever come to the fore.. mcox90 (618), Wilton, USA Sep 6, 2008 22 oz bottle 2008 vintage. Pours a deep mahogany color with a 1/2" tan head. Leaves rings of lacing on the glass. Nose is dark fruit & caramel candy. Fairly thick warm palate. Flavor is a nice mellow blend of caramelized candy, brown sugar, molasses and warmed by 10% abv alcohol. Nice brew to sip while you relax. RunDWP (203), San Jose, California, USA Sep 5, 2008 Bottle. Reddish, amber color with a frothy tan head. Lots of sheeting and lacing on the glass. Buttery, sweet toffee aroma. Tastes rather sweet, with a caramel or toffee flavor, with an astringent aftertaste of tea, and hops bitterness. I found this a bit agressive and harsh to drink, despite its strong points. kidmartinek (972), austin, Texas, USA Sep 2, 2008 Pours deep amber clear/cloudy. There is a ton of foam on the pour that is light tan in color. It settles to 1 inch frothy head and holds for as long as you need it to. There is little bubbling in the glass. The ale has a strong sweet, enticing barley aroma that you can smell from 18 inches away. Upon closer inspection a nice floral hop aroma is present. The flavor is strong, bready, grassy, malty, alcoholic and incredibly bitter. The mouth feel is rather flat and I coughed after the first sip, and it gives a slight burn on the way down. The finish is "kill you" bitter, and hides under the tongue. Somehow, it spite or despite all of that, its a good brew. heemer77 (4294), Savannah, Missouri, USA Sep 2, 2008 Bomber, thanks, theisti. The body was deep amber to copper with a khaki head. The aroma was massively sweet with caramel and apples. The taste was sweet toffee with some apple core. A nice tobacco spice hint. A decent brew. Furseth (1328), Kungälv, Sweden Sep 1, 2008 Bottle: Cooper red colour, with, creamy head. Aroma of honny, citrus, flowers, and lots of malts. Flavor is malty,viny mouth feeling,medium body and medium malty/alcy fnish Nice mmmbeer (737), Austin, Texas, USA Aug 29, 2008 2008 vintage 22 oz. bottle served in trappist glass- poured turbid darken amber with red tints, light carbonation, 4mm off white head bubbled away a little too quickly, small groups of foam for lacing. Aroma of a caramel malt and citrus hops. Hits the mouth with a high-medium body, sweetness can be found in the background of a well concealed hopbomb that goes from the start to almost the finish, ends bitterly. Not sure what to make of this one... just seems out of balance to me.
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