3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Cask, dry-hopped with Citra. Minimal tan head, brown-black body. Aroma is moderately sweet, raisin/plum, some alcohol, caramel. Taste is moderately sweet, plum/raisin, caramel, molasses, light pineapple. Sticky full body, minimal carbonation.
4.5 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
22 oz. bottle from Randall’s. Batch 001, bottled 9/7/11. Pours a deep, dark mahogany color with a finger of tan head that settles into a lasting, thin cap. Aroma blasts with dark fruits and sweet sugary malts- figs, pomegranates, dates, raisins, plums, oak, whiskey, vanilla, chocolate, molasses, caramel, brown sugar- so rich, complex, and sweet. Flavor of rye whiskey, dark fruits (pomegranate, plum, date, fig, red grape), chocolate, syrup, vanilla, toffee, molasses, earth, and licorice. Some boozy bitterness at the end. Medium-bodied, with a rich, sticky mouthfeel and moderate carbonation. Wow, there’s a lot going on in this one. Awesome, awesome stuff. It will probably age well for a year or two, too. Still good body and warmth. I smell or taste something new every time I grab it.
3.5 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Pouring at the Night of the Barrels on the Friday night of EBF 2012. Pours a mostly clear ruby brown. Sweet bourbon, wood, vanilla on the nose. Toast, candy malt. Long sweet caramel, sugar, malt, sweet wood. Super sweet, cloying long sweetness on the finish.
3 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 11/20
Pours clear mahogany with 2-finger tan head. Nose is huge astringent hops, vienna malt, figgy fruit, blackberry, port, plum, prune, cacao. Tastes rich, thick, oily, with a heavy oaky blackstrap molassesy malt bill, heavy dark fruit, including figs, plum, prune, blackberry, cacao, nuts. Gets hot late, and acquires a strong prune juicy base flavor, which detracts from the holistic experience somewhat.
4.5 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 19/20
22oz bottle poured into a Snifter at 42°. Color is black with a little amber showing. Carbonation is good making a nice light brown head. Aroma is amazing and rich with dark fruits, vanilla, oak and a hint of whisky. It has a full body that gives a rich sharp mouth feel. Flavor like the aroma is just amazing, coming on with bold dried fruits, mellow roasted malt, chocolate and a touch of coffee then the oak shows with a bit of vanilla. After taste brings a faint sweetness, then the roasted flavors come back giving a light bitterness on the tail end with a little of the whisky showing. Overall I love this one, it’s a great brew with big, bold, and complex flavors.
4.2 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
THOUGHTS: Very nice. Very complex barley wine. This would probably age incredibly well. A little overly sweet. Full of fruit. A little too hot and barely hides the alcohol.
TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a dark red that was basically dark brown in the glass with a small, tan head that fully diminished and left barely fair lacing. The aroma had heavy chocolate, molasses, rye, chocolate syrup and dark candy sugar; grape; raisin; plum; prune; date; wood; soy sauce; toffee; brown sugar; maple syrup; honey; chocolate-covered fruit; whiskey; vanilla; and that barley wine smell. The initial flavor was heavily sweet and lightly bitter; while the finish was heavily to harshly sweet, light to mod bitter and lightly acidic. There was vanilla, wood, whiskey, dark fruits, prune, raisin, molasses, honey, maple syrup, that barley wine taste, brown sugar, a little roasted malt, chocolate syrup, chocolate-covered fruit and alcohol. The full body was syrupy and sort of sticky on the lips and then extremely dry with soft carbonation and a moderate to heavily alcoholic finish.
4.3 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20
Great recommendation by Chipalsa. Bottle pour into snifter. Nose is full of many aromas. Cherry, fig, some vanilla, whiskey malt, sweetness, molasses, some brown sugar, and some slight caramel. pretty intense for an aroma. I’m liking these big BA barleywines. The pour is dark brown with a light khaki head and nice lacing. Taste is pretty complex. Some hints of vanilla and butterscotch with some light red fruit esters and a bit of caramel and raisins. There’s a definite touch of alcohol but not too much to overpower the other flavors. Semi-sweet upfront into a slightly bitter finish that is quite pleasing. A definite sipper but enjoyably so. Great stuff.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
22oz. bottle served in a snifter. Poured a dark reddish brown with a finger of tan head that quickly dissipated. Aroma is pretty boozy with oak, vanilla and a little chocolate. This is a big beer, very full bodied with tons of malt. More chocolate, toffee and some vanilla from the oak. There is a pretty good amount of hop bitterness that keeps it from being too sweet. Not as boozy as the aroma would suggest. Wish I could have shared this with someone, it was a lot to take on by myself! Nice beer, I bet a year would really improve it.
3.9 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 17/20
So maybe this just reminds me a lot of the BA Old Stock because I had it recently. I don’t know. Pours a very dark brown, very thin tan cover. The aroma is all dark fruit, molasses, vanilla, bourbon. The taste is raisin, plum, fig, lots of vanilla, bourbon, brown sugar, molasses.
4.5 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 10/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
Tap at Sugar Maple. I must say THIS IS AWESOME! The beer pours to a deep mahogany body with a creamy tan head. The aroma is sweet and caramelized. Has a sherry like quality of an old barleywine. But that’s likely just caused by the combination of the 4 fruits that they used in it. The flavors are super caramelized sugars with sherry and vanilla. Lots of subtle complex things going on from the fruits. The palate is sweet and full bodied with a super thick syrupy texture. It somehow astonishingly hides the 13.4%.
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