Iron Hill Barleywine

Brewed by Iron Hill Newark
Style: Barley Wine
Newark, Delaware USA

Serve in Snifter

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750ml Bottle; Shared at the first, semi-annual Ratebeer-Tucson tasting!
Pours with a thin, frothy, amber-tinged, tan colored head that sits on top of a clear, rich amber colored beer. The aroma has a dank, cheesy note to it that mixes with an herbal and citrus driven hop character that are ultimately drowned out by the funkiness. A touch of caramel malt character struggles to come through the funk aromatics as well.

Cheesy notes continue in the flavor, though they are a touch more muted than in the aroma there is still a really rustic, challengingly, funky French-farmhouse cheese funkiness here that reminds me of really rank toe-cheese. The herbal and citrus hop notes are more noticeable than they were in the aroma and the flavor is slightly better than the aroma was too. Bitter hop notes mix with light phenolics as they meld together in the finish. This would definitely be a nice beer without the obvious infection. It is still exceedingly hoppy and the chewy malt would have been nice if not drowned out by the cheesy funk.

Bottle courtesy of JKwalking05. Clear red pour. Sweet bread aroma. Light cereal smell as well. Taste is thick sweet with bready malt. No dark fruit which surprises me but it’s not rough.

750 ml bottle via trade a ways back, shared with my girlfriend Cyn after a day that really needed a beer to cap it off. Pours ruddy amber cloudy with not much air passing through. There is a nice tan head that follows. Nose is pretty dry and sweet with a variety of notes, that I can’t quite place. Taste is sweet, with a bit of fruity caramel edge and slight mouth burn on the back end. This is a pretty tasty barleywine, but its lacking depth, it has good aspects but they are limited. Overall worth having, surprised its only had such few ratings.

One of the Top 5 beers I had at GABF. I do know that some of the "buzz" that was created at the fest about Iron Hill, was by me. I was camped out trying all 15 beers a few times over the sessions. This stuff was candy sweet, unlike anything I’ve tasted with huge vanilla and caramel flavors. I could have drank this all night. Freakin awesome.

bottle cellared since dark lord day ’07...... reddish amber brown pour and looks somewhat fizzy and caronated. a frothy white one inch head tops it off.... aroma wasn’t what i was expecting. lots of fruit here. apple and sour grape notes and almost like it was aged in a oak barrel but i might just be trippin...... flavors are on the same wavelength which i am glad of. carbonation was at a nice level.....i was expecting a caramely malty barleywine and was much surprised by this fruity and refreshing and not entirely heavy barleywine.....a pleasant surprise!

Bottle thanks to jkwalking05. The look is amber to red in color with an off white head. The smell is toasted marshmellow, roasty, malts, fruits, alcohol, caramel, and good. The taste is malts, fruits, caramel, and alcohol.

In bottle at Craig’s. A red-orange colour with a lacy beige head. Aroma of toffee, alcohol, caramel and candy sugar. Tastes fruity with a grainy barley character. Flavours of orange peel and chewy caramel. Foamy mouthfeel with some CO2 prickle. A great barley wine.

I purchased this bottle at the Newark, DE location, but the label on the bottle says Wilmington. 750 ml bottle. Pours a hazy dark amber with glowing reddish highlights when held against a light. Moderate-large off-white head that faded to a film at mid-glass and left only a trace of lace. Very pleasant aroma of caramel and a bit of sweet orange. The flavor backs off a bit from the aroma, with caramel up front and a moderate alcohol flavor towards the finish. The alcohol flavor stregthens as the beer warms, and a definite alcohol burn develops as well. This is a decent barley wine, but it lacks the depth and mouthfeel I associate with better barley wines. The strong alcohol finish also detracts from the flavor.

Sampled at the DC Local Tasting a 750ml bottle pours a hazy brown with some creamy off white head. Nose is oranges, caramel, minty, a little grassy, brown sugar, some cookies. Flavor is sweet, oranges, mint, earthy, sweet carrots, squash. Smooth finish.

750 ml bottle via trade with hopdog - Pours a reddish-amber color with a thin off white head. Faint spotty lacing. It went South from here. I think the bottle was infected. Flavor was phenolic and bitter. Too bad. I was sitting on this bottle for quite some time and was looking forward to sharing it. Oh well, maybe I can get another bottle. Thanks Steve.