Hales Rudyards Rare Barleywine

Brewed by Hales Ales
Style: Barley Wine
Seattle, Washington USA

Serve in Snifter

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12oz bottle (December 2010) picked up at Total Wine
Appearance: Cloudy golden/amber with a small off-white head, no lacing
Aroma: Sweet caramel, yeasty and toasted malts
Taste: Toasted malts, sugar, caramel, dusty, pine resin finish
Good, easy drinking

Bottle from CoOp, Bellingham, WA; vintage 2011
It has a beautiful color, dark amber with copper and red shades, and medium sized creamy head. Some aroma of caramel, vanilla, hop and puke. Correct body strength; there is some flavor of malt and caramel, moderate sweetness, quite strong bitterness; the hop is mostly resiny, not much fruity. Long final.
American style Barley Wine, below average.

9 Jan 2013, bottle. red/orange, dark but clear, steady bubbles, no head. bread, raisins, plums, alcohol, sweet malt. med body and mildly fizzy. cherries, alcohol (but not too much), light bready malt. nice

Pours a medium golden color, with a moderate head, and an unusually bland aroma for a barley wine. Taste is better than the aroma, with relatively modest malt sweet malt presence that is balanced by hop bitterness that mostly comes in strong at the finish. By no means a bad beer, but it is sedate for the style, which, combined with the twist off cap probably doesn’t make is much of cellar candidate either.

My first barleywine, for me was an English IPA with maybe more hops and alcohol level. Balanced beer, amber, medium carbonation.

2010 vintage. Pours a dark chestnut brown color that’s completely opaque with a one finger, light beige head that slowly settles into a thick, lasting ring. Streaks of soapy lacing left behind. Surprising considering the style and ABV. Earthy, leathery malt aroma with spicy hops, sweet alcohol and subtle dark fruit notes. Surprising hop presence with some grass and resinous pine followed by alcohol, leathery malt, caramel, toffee, plum and fig. On the fuller end of medium bodied with a spicy hop bite that lingers over the earthy, leathery malt and sweet booze into a hot, bone dry finish. Again, it’s surprisingly hop forward with lots of dry, earthy bitterness and resinous pine flavor dominating until the malts and booze come in on the back end. The leathery malts compliments the earthy hops but it could use a bit more sweetness. There’s some caramel and toffee but the vinous dark fruit notes found in the nose are barely noticeable. Some boozy heat in the finish that provides some nice warmth, but overall the high ABV is decently masked. Not very complex but still a flavorful sipper.

A well made and nicely balanced barley wine. It is beautifully colored, has a nice off white head and just the right amount of fizz. As promised, it does have a nice malty backbone and a hops finish. The hops flavor is a bit much in my opinion. I wish it was toned down just slightly, as I am not a fan of hoppy beers. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

355ml bottle pours a pale amber color with a small white head that leaves only a tiny trace of lace on the glass. Aroma is grainy malts with hints of caramel and alcohol and light fruits. Taste is big on the malty sweetness with some fruits and a very mild hop bitterness. Overall, a very sweet malty barley wine, definitely English style. Good brew, but a slow sipper due to the sweetness and alcohol.

Bottled@PBF2012. Deep amber colour, beige head. Aroma is sweet malts, alcohol and some mild wooden notes. Flavour is quite similar, sweet, but not too exciting.

Bottled 12fl oz (PBF, vintage 2011)
Dark nut brown-amber color, small steady beige head. Toffeish, barley malty aroma. Full-bodied, Nutty, ryeish, lots of barley and alcohol. Quite typical robust malty American barley wine.