Green Flash Barleywine

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

strong citrus rising above the caramel, almost a lemony note underneath the grapefruit rind. mixed in with the hops some alcohol but not much malt peeking through. srong head for a bareley wine, some color like a blushing orange, silky in the mouth with nice carbonation. Overall a little harsh, not fully blended.

I love the barleywine molassses aroma. An excellent beer, with some nice flavors and hops throughout. Don’t really get the toffee, but I like it a lot.

Original vintage bomber shared by SuIIy on 1/6/06. Didn’t write down the bottle number.
A dirty beige head, flecked with dark ivory, rises up to two fingers in height. Medium-mahogany to chestnut brown body still shows plentiful carbonation and dull chartreuse tints. The head shows moderate retention and produces very sticky lacing all about the glass. Medium clarity.
Rich brown bread-like maltiness is immediately matched with light prune and date-like notes. Strong base malt sugars add a creamy sweetness in the background, as well. A bit of alcohol warmth emerges in the middle, beginning to dry the aroma out, while dry chocolate and crunchy, coffeeish roast continues the trend. The finish is dotted with more of the prune and date notes, perhaps adding a bit juicier raisin-like note as well as some buttertoffee. No trace of hop aromatics due in part to the age, but it dosent seem like this was ever overly aromatic (but there’s plenty of pine and citrus bitterness). Curiously, with warming, a very distinct yeast note emerges on the finish. Not sure what it is, but I’ve smelled it before. It’s plasticy/rubbery and dry, but dosent seem unpleasant. Rather it mixes with the malts to give almost a cola-like note. Perhaps it’s autolysis, but it’s rather clean and well behaved, if so. Aroma strength is medium to medium-high, though the complexities/subtleties far outmatch the sheer strength.
Sweet at first, with caramel and base malts mixing with the darker roasted malts to produce sweet chocolate and toffee notes. Light hints of alcohol produce a Spanish coffee-like note that balances the sweetness and adds some life to this vintage sipper. Plenty of raisins, prunes and dates, with strong vanilla-like sweetness continue the English feel to it. It dries out heavily on the finish, however, with crusty, bare, dark malts and a hard brown breadiness that dulls the previous fruitiness. Bit of alcohol heat comes on with warming, and the malts get a little edgier.
Great presentation of flavors, but unfortunately, the body suffers from a noticeable amount of thinness. Not caused by age or carbonation, but just seemingly not enough unfermentables to really give the richness and bravado of some of the better English barleywines. The carbonation is appropriate (medium-light, not sharp) and the texture is reasonable (smooth and oily), but the thinness is at odds with the nature of this beer. While it allows for more drinkability, barleywines are by no means intended to be a quick quaffer, nor do the flavors here allow it to be.

Bottle. Rich dark caramel color with a tan head. Grapefruit hop aroma with caramel. Big grapefruit flavor with caramel, some fruitiness and alcohol. Some roastiness underneath. Lingering grapefruit and pine. Lots of hops - only difference between this and standard IIPA is that the aroma isn’t as strong here.

Bottle from Shawan Liquors in Cockeysville, MD. Shared at the Nashville Tasting. Pours deep amber with a tan head. Fruity and hoppy aroma, not much maltiness in the nose. Medium light texture as far as barley wines go. Flavor is fairly hoppy and fruit with a caramel maltiness taking a back seat. Not overly complex but decent. This reminds me of a fruitier Bigfoot.

22 oz. bottle from Plaza Liquor - Pours a deep mahogany color with a two finger thick light tan head which slowly fades. Nice layered lacing left behind as the head settles. Big floral, pine, rersin and light citrus hop aroma. Has a sweet residual malt flavor with a nice hop presences and some light esters. Thick palate and full body. This is the way I like my BW’s. Look out Bigfoot.

Pours the color of leathered blood orange w/ a full semi creamy, spattered froth that recedes slowly. Aroma of huge piney hops and sweet caramel. Full nectar w/ mellow residual effers. This is a hopped up version of the style. When you’re sick of barley wine, drink this one. A generous use of hops hides the sweet caramel all the way to the end leaving bitter scar tissue. I find myself feeling for sloughed off inner mouth tissue. Nuances [is all they could be called after that assault] of cramel, slight cherry, and leather. This is the arena where IIPA meets Barley Wine. A nice change of pace. Finish is blistering w/ the hops really digging in. I highly recommend this brew.

This BW has a great floral aroma with nice caramel and toffey flavors. It is also well balanced. This is one of the great american Barley Wine I have tasted. Thanks to Fordest for this one.