Phillips Deadhead Barley Wine

Formerly brewed at Phillips Brewing Co.
Style: Barley Wine
Victoria, Canada

Serve in Snifter

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Bottle at Alibi Room, Vancouver, vintage 2009, 2+ years old
Dark mahogany color, with dark red shades, and small head. Simple aroma of caramel. The mouthfeel is somehow round, but the body is less strong than expected, and the flavor is missing the malt that should belong to a Barley Wine, having just some caramel; the sweetness too is too light; moderate bitterness, maybe some of it is gone with the aging; it has a feeling of cereals, grains; in the final there is a light nutty touch and a light alcohol warmth.
Too simple, as most Barley Wines by Phillips.

Amber,fast fading beige head. Neutral nose.Fatty malt profile, medium alcohol heat.Needs maturing big time, poorly blended

Amber light brown with minimal head. Mostly chewy malts with light orangey hops and earthy tobaccoey notes. Some of these notes emerge before the chewiness in engulfed in a chocolatey and slightly alcoholic finish.

Bottle. Dark brown-red. Alcohol apparent in the aroma. Bread dough is heavy but somewhat inviting. Oily and slick as well as sticky. Sweet and simple but not bad.

Bottle with many thanks to Gravelle. A hazed muddy brown, pours a thin beige cap, but with a lot of sticky lace. Nose of caramel malts, spices, cherry, oak, vanilla, fresh hops. Tastes quite sweet with a decent hop bitterness. Lots of toffee and caramel, red cherry, vanilla, oak, a bit of toast. Quite assertive on the hopping towards the end, with a complex sweetness that lingers. A good one. Thanks Jon!

shared a bottle pours a nice dark colour with a nice size head. light alc, flavour with liquorish. went down super smooth light taste

UPDATED: OCT 30, 2011 650mL bottle from Brewery Creek, pours a murky brown with a reddish tinge and a tan head. Aroma of pumpkin, cinnamon and malt. Flavour is pumpkin, sweet malts, cinnamon, nutmeg and grains. Alcohol is quite dominant, especially at the end. Very warming barley wine.

Very mild malt forward aroma with a hint of chalky dark malt character and some berries. Nice burnished copper/brown coloured body is topped by a decent tan head that recedes to a lasting cover with nice lacing. Grainy malts up front are joined by intense sweetness with some chalky, ashy dark malt bitterness to take the edge off. Sweetness lingers and alcohol becomes apparent in the aftertaste. Grainy character is ever-present. Medium body with moderate carbonation with somewhat sticky texture. Alcohol flavour builds and becomes more overpowering as it warms. Tulip glass. Cellar temperature. Bottle purchased at Brewery Creek in Dec-09.

A nicely-lfavoured beer, featuring spice and pumpkin. However, as user "manuchampions" mentions, this beer lacks viscosity (that is, it is slightly watery, lacking any real texture or weight), and lacks an aroma to speak of. If I walked into an "average" bar and saw this on the menu, I would order it; however, I probably wouldn’t buy this from a beer store again any time soon (although I’d probably give it another try in a year or so to see if it had improved).

Ok, had this back to back with the Burley that I had given to me from a fellow hophead. So not really my thing especially right after having the similiar over the top malty treat that was the Burley. The Deadhead had a more balanced malt then the previous years. This being the 09 version. Has some pumpkin, nutmeg and nice cinnamon flavours. The best so far from the guys on the barley wine front.