Green Flash Barleywine

Brewed by Green Flash Brewing Co.
Style: Barley Wine
Vista, California USA

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.

2008 vintage. Cloudy brown amber with a lasting beautiful ivory off-white head. Classic caramel malty, dried fruit barleywine aroma, with a lemon hop note blended in. Flavour is all-out hoppy bitter - completely killing the malt which seems like it’s very rich and good underneath. Maybe it’s better in two years?

2nd Anniversary. Cloudy dark amber with a medium sized beige head, fading. Very sweet, malty nose with lots of toffee and caramel, some dark fruits, light citrus and a bit of oxidation. The flavor is very sweet, lightly bitter with overbearing burnt sugars, astringent ice tea, raisins, rum and sherry. Full body is sticky and rough with moderate carbonation. Finish is warm.

Bomber. Pretty ruby color with a light beige head, leaving spotty lacing. Sweet fruit and floral aroma--notes of peach, cherry, tangerine, and candied malt sweetness, with citrus and piney hops coming up underneath. Flavor was a nice even malt sweetness defined by caramelized sugar with some bright fruitiness and cut somewhat by citrusy hops, with some slight resiny notes on the finish. Fine carbonation. Pretty decent BW.

Thanks to IEBAILI for the bomber.
<rant>First off, why does the bottle say "Vintage" on it with no year? It really needs a year because apparently this is a slightly aged bottle direct from the store (hops was not as prevalent as I’ve seen in other reviews, expecially the ’on tap’ reviews)</rant> Deep orange with a medium head. A lot of toffee and caramel sweetness, bitter piney/grassy hops and band-aids. The alcohol comes through a bit.

Bottle at ØLbaren. Clear reddish - offwhite head. High bread, wet / sour socks, soya, orange, roasted, bisquit. Medium citric hoppy. Not good !!

Poured a dark amber with an offwhite head. Aroma was floral and citrus with a good bit of caramel underneath. Taste was caramel, toffee, and a good bit of the citrus hops. Feels nice and smooth on the palate. Good bitter sweet aftertaste. Very decent.

Bottle label reads Green Flash 2nd Anniversary Ale. Sampled at the 3rd Annual Woodshop Tasting put on by cquiroga on 3/1/08. Still pour with a light burgundy color and some tiny bubbles. Aroma of brown sugar, caramel, cinnamon, light hops greenery, and a heavy alcohol presence. Flavors of intense burnt caramel and sugar, with coconut and a touch of cocoa. Pretty mellow transitions, the age is definitely there. Velvety palate with a lasting bitterness and warm alcohol.