Howe Sound Woolly Bugger

Brewed by Howe Sound Inn and Brewing Co.
Style: Barley Wine
Squamish, Canada

Serve in Snifter

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Bottle. Colour...amber-garnet with little head. Nose..."sugar in the raw", burnt sugar sirop, and toffee. Palate...plenty of oaky dryness here and mild sweetness that pairs well with the hop presence. The hops, though not predominant, step aside long enough to allow the flavours of toffee, turbinado and butterscotch pudding to come through. Nice and woolly!

Good, well-balanced, well-done barley wine. Aroma of hops, booze and several different malts. Pours dark mahogany with a little head and lacing. Aroma of caramelized malt. Syrupy texture and sweet finish with a little wooden bitterness. Some raisin or prune in aroma as well - a little towards a Belgian dark. Bottle.

Amazing beer. Can you buy it is 6 or 12 packs? As good as any Belgian beer! A Canadian winner.........

100th beer, holy shit! To think I’ve tried 100 different beers...now onward to 1000!

341ml bottle to snifter, at 20*c room temp. December 2012 bottling.

Appearance: Transparent dark red color with a large, fine off white head. Quite interesting how there is no cloudiness and no sediment in the bottle...

Aroma: Figs, caramel, chocolate, marzipan, loads of dark fruit, slight alcohol bite, slight sour tinge as well. Quite aromatic.

Taste: Lots of chocolate, roasted nuts, dark fruit, smoke. I’m getting some coffee, cream and whisky notes as well. Some butterscotch too.

Palate: Thick chewy mouthfeel, soft carbonation bite, sweet turns to bitter as typical with big malty beers. The alcohol does give the beer a solventy taste but it complements it nicely. It is a little rough around the edges but it’s quite young so that’s expected.

Overall: Not world class but quite a good local brew. One thing though... Where is the yeast sediment? No refermentation in the bottle? That would make it more resilient during storage and it strikes me as odd they didn’t bother, especially with something that you would normally put away for a few years.

Toffee and caramel combine with a pleasing nutty character in the nose. some dark pit fruits and light alcohol are also apparent. clear mahogany-brown body is topped by a decent off-white head that stands well and leaves some lace. the sweetness of the toffee and caramel are offset by some pleasant roast malt notes and the nuttiness lingers in the aftertaste. Perhaps not as full bodied as I’d expect considering the sweetness and stronger carbonation might have elevated the flavour a bit. Tulip glass. Cellar temperature. Bottle purchased (?) at Toby’s in (?) December 2012.

19/I/13 - 33cl bottle @ RBBWG 2013 - bottled or BB (?): XII/2011 (2013-57) Thanks to BelgBeerGeek for sharing the bottle!

Little cloudy dark amber beer, small aery off-white head, unstable. aroma: sweet malts, sugary, it’s a barley wine all right, vanilla, milk chocolate. MF: ok carbon, medium to full body. Taste: chocolate, sweet malts, mocha, caramel, dry hoppy touch, grapes or red wine or something as well. Aftertaste: caramel, vanilla, some cocoa powder, chocolate, bit sugary. Very decent beer!

UPDATED: FEB 25, 2013 Wow... why do they make so little of this? An incredible barleywine, intense malt / earthy / nutty aroma and velvet mouthfeel with alcohol, caramel malt flavours. Not aggressive, just exquisitely balanced. EDIT: I’ve shared a couple bottles with barleywine virgins and it’s getting unanimous approval. Each time better than the last. I’m raising this a few points.

Slightly hazy amber brown colour, white head. Malty aroma, alcohol, caramel, dark fruits. Sweet malty flavour, caramel. Malty, light bitter finish with some pronounced liquorice.
(From 341mL bottle @ RBBWG II, Wilrijk 2013. Courtesy of BelgBeerGeek. Thanks for sharing, Vincent!)

Who knew that searching for "woolly" would bring up so many beers? Who knew that woolly had so many L’s? Bottle courtesynof BelgBeerGeek, thanks! Cloudy amber color, small off white head. Aroma of toffee and caramel. Taste is sweet toffee and butterscotch.

33cl bottle sample @ RBBWG 2013, courtesy of 77ships. Cuivrée, foncée, col beige. Arôme est malté, pointe de caramel, sucrée. Palais présente ce côté type de barley wine tirant plus vers le style britannique, léger sucre brun voire caramélisé collant aux lèvres, houblon généreux contribuant à un profil amer citronné assez sec, pour une balance agréable mettant le profil malt bien en avant sans pour cela obstruer le reste .