Nashoba Valley Barleywine

Brewed by Nashoba Valley Winery
Style: Barley Wine
Bolton, Massachusetts USA

Serve in Snifter

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Tasted at the Carolina Crew gathering, Greenville NC. Copper pour with picture perfect head and lace. Grassy aroma. Thin mouthful. Fruits, hops, alcohol make this beer kinda one dimensional.

750mL bottle, thanks to Steve, I believe. Poured medium amber with a dense cap of off-white head. The aroma picked up darker fruits with some darker spices, buttery notes, and warm vinous character present.. kind of biscuity on the back-end, but the spices and warmth struggle for attention. The flavor opened with tart, metallic notes and a touch of bourbon (I think this was a 2005 bottle, but can’t say for certain), plus a hit of warm spices and mint.. finished with sharp metallic notes and thick, tacky spices.. lots of residual sugars and heat at the end. Heavier-bodied and just ripe with odd and dysfunctional spices on the palate.. this was very hard to drink, which was unfortunate.. too bad we didn’t have 3 more guys to drink it with.

2005? Black wax. Thanks Jason. The beer pours to a copper body with a thin off white head. The aroma is oak and sweet caramel. The flavor is sweet and caramelized up front and then morphs into something that reminds me of mildew... its really just a really over spiced cardamom? Super icky. The spice must have floated to the top because since I had first pour, it’s not as bad. Either way, that first taste was really off-putting.

A hazy golden amber barley wine with orange hues and a thin white head. A floral hops in aroma with sweet vinous notes, caramel, meaty overtones, and sea salt. In mouth, sweet caramel woith intense floral hops bitterness, mint, cinnamon, and cardamom. Rich and sustained. bottle was 2 years old when tasted. Shared Aug. 2008, with Capflu, GRM, et al., Brasseurs du temps gathering.

Glass, 5 ounces, bottle, 750 ml, 2-year old, from Luc Bourbonnière, at the future site of the Brasseurs du Temps brewery; eye: amber, no effervescence, no lacing; nose: malt, salt, hops, liqueur, alcohol; mouth: malt, salt, hops, alcohol, spices (including pepper), finale in malt with a surprising presence of salt and hops, full body, not much carbonation, lightly sweet; overall: happy to have tasted it FRANÇAIS Verre, 5 onces, bouteille, 750 ml, 2 ans d’âge, de Luc Bourbonnière, bue dans le futur site de la brasserie des Brasseurs du Temps; oeil : ambrée, pas d’effervescence, pas de dentelle; nez : malt, sel, houblon, liqueur, alcool; bouche : malt, sel, houblon, alcool, épices (dont le poivre), finale en malt avec une présence surprenante de sel et de houblon, corsée, peu carbonatée, légèrement sucrée; en résumé : content d’y avoir goûté

(750ml) Sampled at the Brasseurs du Temps pre-party on August 27, 2008. Pours a thin, almond frothy head with a deep red body. Nose of soya sauce, strong plum odours. Flavours of strong alcoholic malt, thin burn. Good fruit and salty malt. Very alcoholic. Wow. 8/4/8/4/15

Pours a reddish copper with no head. Very still pour. The nose is sweet and fruity, candy, malty, caramel. Definitely English. The flavor is a bit thin, sweet, candy, fruity, warm, lacks overall complexity. Decent mouthfeel.

Date: 08/09/2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

clear dark red, whispy beige head, touch of lace, earthy hop aroma with a bit of carmel malts, sticky sweet malt flavor, nice balancing bitterness, good fruit character starts to emerge along with some alcohol that grows as it warms,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4

Slightly hazy dar coppery-red colored body, with a nice, delicate lacy head. Sweet, grassy aroma, slightly malty, with raisins and honey. It is a very mild aroma. The flavor is slightly more complex, with hops and sweet malts, and even some cherries. The alcohol is very evident, though, and it leaves quite a burning sensation. Cherry cough syrup finish that stays with you for awhile.

750 with silver wax (year? I doubt it’s the 2005, because I detect no bourbon-aging) - I was going to save this bottle for a gathering, but I decided against it due to the low ratings - I’m glad I did - cloudy copper with a red tint, and a somewhat well-sustained lace - very sweet aroma, with notes of caramel apples, other fruity esters, and slight woody hints - quite syrupy at first, followed by touches of carmelized sugar, caramel malt, mild spicy hops, and touches of oak - gets very alcoholic and boozy near the end - the hops try to counteract this, but with little success - too sweet, with too much apparent alcohol - give it a few years and it will probably be much better, but who wants to wait that long when there are so many other great barleywines?