Rock Art Vermonster

Brewed by Rock Art Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Morrisville, Vermont USA

Serve in Snifter

THOUGHTS: Not quite what I was expecting. Much smoother than most barley wines. Hid the alcohol and the high IBUs. Not very complex, but nice flavor and it was easy to drink. So malty that it blocked a lot of the bitterness at first, but it did get more bitter as it warmed, but remained well balanced. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a medium to dark brown with red highlights and an average, beige head that mostly diminished and left good lacing. The aroma had moderate to heavy caramel and candy; light to moderate orange, lemon and lime hops; lighter grapefruit and pine hops; light apple; slight smoke; toffee; brown sugar; maple syrup; that barley wine smell; and a little fruitiness. The initial flavor was moderately to heavily sweet and light to moderately bitter; while the finish was heavily sweet and moderate to heavily bitter with a long duration. There was caramel, brown sugar, maple. syrupy, that barley wine taste, burnt caramel, candy, citrus hops (orange, grapefruit, lemon and a little lime), pine hops, a little alcohl, slight smokiness, tons of malt and candy goodness, toffee, and hints of roasted malt. The slightly more than medium body might have been thicker, but it was so oily it made it seem thinner. It was rather oily, a little sticky on the lips and slightly gritty with tingly carbonation and a lightly alcoholic finish.

Bomber purchased 15 months ago at Sun Devil Liquors in Phoenix ($5.49). Pours a nice garnet hue with one finger of beige foam. Aroma of creamy dark caramel, some sticky hop fruitiness, and some alcohol. Flavor of overly sweet caramel but still packing some hop bite. Noticeable alcohol in the flavor as well. Decent balance between the sweetness and the remaining hop bitterness. Okay barley wine, but the booziness could be throttled back some more. (199, 651)

Poor barley-wine example. Off-putting aroma and flavor, something seems to be wrong with this one. Old, dull, muddy flavors.

Pour thanks to motortoddhead. Dark brownish amber. Decent dose of pine/grapefruit hops, dark-fruity and toasted malt, mild booze in the nose. Initial hammer of sticky, sweet caramel, biscuit, toasted malt, and dried fruit followed by a resounding pine/grapefruit hop bitterness and alcohol heat. Bitterness tended to be a bit choppy in the finish. A pretty sticky barley wine with residual malt sweetness slightly outlasting the pine hops.

A: Ruby brown with a tan medium sized head... some lacing as the beer goes down... S: Sweet, sweet caramel malts with grapefruit and other citrus from the hops... T: Bittersweet caramel malts are prominent... the hops kick in mid gear and finish in a nice crisp bitter finish M: Full bodied and dry... O: Its just a tad over the top to drink more than one in an average sitting... but this is a great beer... (review from 2008)

Definitely an American style barleywine, loads of hops with a solid malt backbone.The maltiness is a bit much, but it is right up my alley. Definitely oily with residual sugars and hops.This is the type of beer i am famous for pulling out at the end of a night of drinking beer to give the’Coup de grâce’ to my drinking buddies. Works every time. good beer!

A solid beer, but the hype from the Monster v. the little guy definite has brought more attention to this beer than it would ever have received on the merit of its quality. Pours a redish brown with an off white head. Nose and taste are a bit singular, big hop with a mild malt backbone. It was a cool throw in on a trade, and I saved the bottle to share the story with folks who didn’t hear about it.

bottle... medium brown with a big tan head at first, ok retention... light nose of malt...the taste is borderline bad, hot chalk, alcohol, super hoppy finish, way too hoppy and biting... ok