Ringneck FOTB Barleywine

Tap at the Brewpub. Aroma: Nice malt up front with some light toast, caramel, toffee, and bread. Fairly assertive hoppiness comes through next with citrus, pine, and a touch of floral. Alcohol is there, but not hot or unpleasant. Appearance: Deep reddish brown in color and clear. Medium beige head was small and creamy with good retention. Nice lacing. Flavor: Lots of malt sweetness upfront with notes of caramel, bread, toasted nuts, nutmeg, and a very light chocolate. Again, the hops come in strong with pine, citrus, floral, and a touch of grass. Alcohol is pleasant and warming throughout. Medium-high bitterness. Lingering sweetness post finish. Palate: Full bodied. Moderate carbonation. Alcohol warming in back and roof of mouth. Overall: Solid barelywine. I missed the 3 year old one they had on tap earlier in the day. Would have liked to try them side by side.

Had on tap at the Brew Kettle as part of sampler. 2007 batch. Reddish brown in color, slight head. Smelled sweet and caramel like. Tasted very smooth! Very sweet up front. Brown sugar or molases, then some piney, fruity flavors, finishing with a bitter hoppy taste. Which is blended well here. Both my husband and I enjoyed this very much!

22 oz bottle, via kujo9. Pours a mostly clear orangish copper colored body under a foamy one finger beige head that receeded to a thin covering. A good amount of sediment in bottle. Nose is sweet toffee and caramel maltiness with a nice balancing hoppiness. Some brown sugar, nougat, and a touch of smoke. Flavor is rather sweet with a light pepperyness, lots of dark brown sugar, and toffee up front. Finishes a little harshly bitter with alot of very hot alcohol. Mouthfeel is full bodied and chewy up front and slightly sticky and cloying on the finish. The carbonation is fairly active, but still pretty soft. This was pretty decent, but still slightly harsh on the finish. Even at 3-4 years old this could use some more cellar time.

2004 bomber, courtesy of Ron Bush- Vintage Estate Wine & Beer. Green waxed top. Pours an amber brown, burgundy color with a small white head. Aroma is extremely hoppy with citrus and alcohol overtones. Smells as if this was brewed in a wet pine forrest in Oregon. Taste is bitter hoppy with lots of piney and woody flavors. Excellent and not as sweet as some barleywines tend to be. Thanks Ron !!!

2004 vintage on tap at the Brew Kettle. Poured a deep chestnut/burgundy with a nice cap of beige head (short-lived, though). Nose was quite seductive... with rum-soaked raisins, figs, and rich, rustic caramel... kind of an old ale feel to it. Alcohol-fueled rich dark fruity base with floral highlights and smoky caramel. Booz factor increased greatly with warmth... quite tasty! Sticky sweet, but satisfying... some grainy bitterness across the middle. Medium-to-low carbonation. Definitely enjoyed this one.

2004 bomber from Kujo9. Pours a reddish brown color with a large foamy off white head. Nose is dry piney citrus hops. Light caramel sweetness as well. Flavors of caramel and sugars, lots of sweet malt notes.

2004 bomber generously given by Kujo and shared with SuIIy on 4/23/06.
Impressive carbonation levels for a 2 year old barleywine. Very large, off-white head is foamy, well-retained and provides light bits of lacing. Color is a strong, auburn-red, very crystal malt driven, with a high clarity, no sediment on bottom, seemingly filtered and force carbonated.
Aroma is heavily bitter hops, not overly aromatic, just dry citrus and some strong pine resin. This spikes up at first and is combined with moderately hard crystal malt that seems to have softened with 2 years, bits of caramel sweetness and noticeable munich malt sourness that seems to grab at the nostrils rather violently. Strong yeast bi-products due to the high gravity; fruits, vanilla and corn. It all adds up as to overload the nose, rather dry, bitter and sharp, though the alcohol is not too fierce for this level. Caramelly, with dry peaches created from the munich malt, caramel sugars and fruit esters, leading to some redeeming aroma complexity, but ultimately it’s just dry note after dry note. Strength is medium to strong on the aroma.
Heavy, heavy hop bitterness dynamites the palate upon first sip, corroding all the taste buds and really forcing a cringe. If there is still this much bitterness in the bottle after 2 years, it must have been downright brutal when fresh. As the palate adjusts to the bitterness, it must also confront the dry, lightly toasty/earthy crystal malt that seems to delay the onset of the sourish, bready munich malt. Once that begins working, combined with the alcohol warmth and heavy, caramelized sugars, the richness and decadence are matched by few. That being said, the acidity from the hops, munich malt and alcohol sharpness/dryness are only balanced by the intense, sugary, syrupy, coating, candy-caramel-sugars. Texture is creamy, smooth and liquorous, the forced carbonation having settled out after 2 years in the bottle. Hmm, what to think? For an American-style Barleywine, it certainly is well-made, that is, rich, unbalanced, decadent and massively bitter. After 2 years, I can’t expect much hop flavor, so you can’t fault it for that, and the alcohol, while gratuitous, is not more apparent than I would expect for this level. Full-bodied, that’s for sure. As it warms and the carbonation comes off further, you get a gritty maple-caramel-honey sugariness that is thick, rich and syrupy (and pleasant, in a decadent way). I think my usual tendency to really rate these types in to the ground for their lack of balance and elegance is not quite fair. It is a well-made beer, in that it is not flawed, fuselic, fuelic or poorly malted, but there is little excitement from the rich, heavily sugared caramel-maple malts and deadening hop acidity. Like an after-dinner cordial, also reminds me of Barleys Barleywine from Ohio. With some sherry-like oxidation after 5 or so years, this could be very intriguing.
As a postscript, the brewer informs me that there is no munich malt in this. Not sure what accounts for the light sourness and breadiness, but perhaps the alcohol dryness with the crystal malts and some yeast biproduct?

on tap at richos gravity head 2006. burnt orange color with a white head. aroma dominated by roasty malt with quite a bit of cherry and a bit of hops and alcohol . huge sweet toasty vanilla oak bourbon flavor. hops appear in the middle. full body long alcoholic bourbon finish. almost tastes like taking a shot of bourbon. great barley wine.