Green Flash Barleywine

22oz bomber. I have had a bottle of this already..last week to be exact. So hopefully the fact that I enjoyed that one will overshadow the fact this one exploded a bit when opened. The aroma is certainly off...a little like wet leaves. The beer pours an opaque dark copper with decent foamy head and little if any carbonation. The taste is strongly influenced by toffee and caramel malt notes, then the hops arrive to carry the palate into sharp, lush bitterness that last nicely. The alcohol is fairly evident...given time this might be better or the exploding bottle may indicate an issue that would compromise the aging potential. This would have gotten a higher rating if I’d taken notes the last time I had it...was better then.

Bottled at Pikkulintu, Helsinki. Red amber color. Sweet, raisiny and toffeish aroma with flowery and slightly sweaty hops. Thick sweet caramel, toffee and raisin flavor with licorice and lemony-sweaty hops. Warming. Not a bad barley wine but this is fairly carbonated and thick, too filling for my palate.

22 oz. bottle from World Market in Newport News, VA 񢉘 Vintage). Dark brownish-orange pour with a thick off-white head. Aroma of brown sugar, prunes, pine, and toffee. Flavors are of cherry, floral hops, toffee, and tangerines. Surprisingly thin for a barleywine but the alcohol is still detected. Really not bad but given my love of Green Flash’s IPAs I had hoped for a little more in this barleywine. But still very enjoyable.

22oz 2009 bomber. Pours wine red dark brown with a large creamy frothy light tan head. Aroma is toffee and peach, resin, plastic, grapefruit, fusil alcohol, I don’t know, it’s flawed but I still like it. Flavor is very bitter resin, plastic, dry pine needles, darker caramel, rich but not super cloying, some toffee and subtle fruit, some of the bitter medicinal cherry. Piney and earthy. Medium/full bodied, viscous but not syrupy and only slightly sticky, smooth abundant fluffy slightly fizzy carbonation. I have an 08 and another 09 in the cellar... we shall see...

Bomber from Palmer’s Beverage Center in Columbus, OH. Pours hazy dark-brown red with a khaki head. Nose is caramel, grapefruit, and pine bite with some honey and dark sweetness. Flavor is what I have come to expect from Green Flash: very malty with lots of pine and grapefruit hops. Sweet caramel up front, hops slithering in and take over, then ease up for some more sweetness. Bitter finishing and medium-bodied. Very good barleywine.

The aroma is cool, a ripe fruity smell, with a green apple aroma dominating. Notable for a lack of hop balance of any kind. The appearance is a dark reddish brown, off-white head, relatively hazy. The flavor is fruity, apple, malty, slightly boozy, bready. The finish is boozy, sweet, and finally, some piney hops emerge, leaving a low intensity but lingering bitterness. Medium/thick, slightly syrupy mouhfeel. Excellent barley wine. This is probably closer to an original BW, low in bitterness, high in sweetness and booze.

Bottle. Red/brown body, with a small head. Aroma is caramel, hops and ripe fruit. Flavor is the same. Overall a nice beer

Source: Bomber from KnB Glass: Bordeaux wine glass Aroma: Light aroma of caramel and nuttiness. Flavor: Some caramel, lots of hot alcohol Palate: Very thin, with an alcoholic finish. Overall: A little underwhelming in flavor. Not a bad beer, just not great.