Green Flash Barleywine

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

Filtered reddish brown appearance with fine, long-lasting head. Aroma hits you first with strong acetaldehyde (green apple), vaguely citric hops, some weird fruitiness, then some booziness, and lastly some bready and slightly caramelized malt notes. Not altogether pleasant. Flavor initially hits you with more acetaldehyde and a plethora of hot alcohols. Unusually hot even for a 10% beer. I get some moderate roasted malt notes, light phenols, surprisingly muted hop flavor and quite noticeable, rather harsh bitterness.

Deeeelicious. Tried at Green Flash’s tasting room with my friend Joel from work. This my favorite. There a better Barleywines (Alesmith and Stone and Port Brewing), but not beats this quality/price ratio. 8,3,8,3,17:4.0 I’ve tried this many times, but tonight I tried the 2nd anniversary version for the first time. Tasted at 2008 Woodshop hosted by cquiroga. A small hint of oxidation. Lots of melanoidins and caramelization from long boil. 8,3,7,3,15:3.6

[273-20070413] Bottle (c/o HogTownHarry, w/ him, jerc, mds, tupalev). Very hoppy aroma has strong notes of sweet navel orange rind. Clear, red body with a creamy bubbly off-white head. Very hoppy orange citrus flavour is boozy. Medium body is bitter and dry. Atypical specimen, blending could be less astringent.

Bomber; nose of citrus hops, light fruit, and caramel; clear cherry brown with a small beige head; flavor is lots of hop bitterness, plums, and acaramel from a medium thin body, with hop bitterness and some alcohol in the finish! Not a great barlewine!

Hops and acetyl alcohol fill the nose with a sporadic whiff of caramelised malt coming thru. Big and very up front bitter with some astringency and more acetyl alcohol. lots of roasted caramel and treacle notes with a ver astringent and lingering bitter finish.

Bottle shared with Blankboy, Hogtown Harry, Jerc, Mds, and Mabel, Harry’s bottle. Getting pretty late int he night at the best quality tasting I have ever been a part opf - strongest too. Nice hopped malt aroma. Dark ruby brown, small tan head. Very bitter taste for the style. Simple, but effective" lots of malt, lots of alcohol and heavy on the hops. Nice stuff.

Bottle. Brown body, with a small tan head. (3+) Solid hoppy aroma, quite resiny. Simple but fantastic aroma. Resiny hop flavour, not particularly unique but an extremely well executed barleywine. Fairly bitter. Medium palate. Quite hoppy. Lovely.

22 oz bottle. Pours a deep copper red with a large fluffy orange-beige head that retains well and laces the glass.

The aroma is spicy peppery alcohol, some caramel malt and a little melon.

The flavor is sweet caramel malts and a little fruit, followed by a harsh paint-thinner like alcohol. The finish is a brash bitterness that lingers in the aftertaste. It has some metallic notes. The mouthfeel is fairly full with soft velvety carbonation.

Overall, it’s too over the top in alcohol and bitterness. It does get a bit more drinkable as you go through the bottle.