Green Flash Barleywine

Vintage 2008; Sampled March 2008
A vigorous pour produces a dense, massive, initially four-finger thick, amber tinged, tan colored head. The beer is clear, as evident as it sits on my desk reflecting the light above me with its deep amber hue. It shows a brilliantly clear, light cranberry-juice color when held up to the light. The aroma is quite sticky and decadent with a mix of huge hop character and accenting rich malt notes; Reminiscent of candied bergamot, ruby-red grapefruit, lots of lychee, concentrated tangelo, all of which are concentrated up front, but found throughout the entire olfactory experience. While the hop character is fruit leaning there are other notes of pine sap, herbal hemp and a touch of tobacco here as well. This brew is clearly hop dominated, but the concentrated, sweet aromatic hop character foretells of the thick maltiness that lurks underneath in this beer; towards the tail end one gets a rich caramelized malt aroma, some toasty grain and a touch of warming alcohol.

Served lightly chilled at about 55°F / 13°C, the beer has only a light sweetness that is well balanced by herbal hop notes, despite have a chewy, slightly sticky mouth feel to it that coats the palate quite effectively. The hop character in this young beer is quite huge; the citrus / fruit notes taste like they have been concentrated and deeply caramelized with notes of lychee, tangelo, grapefruit & bergamot. Sharply herbal notes of hemp oil, a light onion character, ample, yet somehow subdued pine sap flavors and a massive, yet well malt-matched bitterness. Warming alcohol notes are also definitely noticeable, though I would not quite characterize them as harsh.

A tasty Barleywine that is definitely quite hoppy as a young beast. Perhaps a touch hot to be a perfect young hoppy example of the style, but I am certainly enjoying this right now. I am not sure what age will do to this, but maybe a year or two might mellow this out a bit without losing too much.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp?PlaceID=698>Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

650 ml. bottle. Vintage 2008. Pours out in a clear reddish amber colour with a frothy and lasting off-white foam. Caramel, figs, toffee, dates, resin and orange-peels in the surprisingly malty aroma. Full-bodied with notes of caramel, dates, pin-needles, grass, grapefruit and resin. Thick, chewy and dense mouthfeel. Long bitter finish of grapefruit, resin and pine-needles with a sticky caramely malt-base in the background.

Flaske. Typisk amerikansk barley wine. Masser af humle, citrus og en smule gran i både duft og smag, men bekket op af en god maltbase. Lækker øl.

Nice, strongly hoppy brew. Tastes a bit like caramel corn with dried dates and other fruits. Pretty solid.

Tap at Pacific Standard. Deep red-brown beer with a thin white head. The aroma is lovely, bright pine and a soft cookie dough maltiness. Softly peppery ethanolic flavour. A kiss of toffee and light caramel as well. Pine and pepper with some light berryish fruitiness. Definitely on the hoppy PNW side of the barleywine style, but it is quite tasty. Piney and resiny over a lean, but still fairly complex, malt backbone. I’d like to try it again with a few years on it, but it’s quite nice.

Good looking clear dark red brown color with a modest tan head. Very floral, citrusy hop nose atop a deep, dark malty backbone, with roasty notes, licorice, dark dried fruit and some alcohol heat. The flavor is dominated by roasty malt and hop bitterness. Has the bitter roast astringency of a stout even, but with some caramel malt sweetness too. Syrupy, sticky mouthfeel, and ends with some hop bitterness.

Bottle shared by fly. Thanks!
Pours a rich maroon color with a lasting creamy tan head. Smell is malty and somewhat bready and slightly vegetal perhaps. Taste is piney, and hoppy bit still with dark caramel like malt hiding behind that. Lasting sweet sappy piney bitterness after each sip. Pretty nice and full of flavor. Nice barley wine!

22oz bomber purchased at Spirits RB. Pours a murky muddy brown with slight ruby edges and a small bubly light beige head. Real nice aroma with lots of sweetness, raisins, grapes, toffee, bread and slight alcohol. Medium bodied, light carbonation with a really dry finish. Malty flavor with notes of bread, raisin, alcohol, brown sugar and rum. I was rather suprised by the dryness of this BW, so much so that I found it sort of distracting from the flavor.