Rogue Old Crustacean Barleywine

Brewed by Rogue Ales
Style: Barley Wine
Newport, Oregon USA

Tap at TFD - Pours brownish amber with a small off-white head...aroma is tight, lt citrus, lt caramel...flavour was bitter malt and insanely hot...this one needs a hot malt injection and at least a few years age to be enjoyable...

2007 on tap at Brouwer’s Hard Liver ’09. Pours brownish amber with a thin off-white head. Strong sweet nose of caramel, toffee, and fruity hops. Taste is a little more floral and a little less sweet. Nice hop finish.

This pours a reddish brown color with an off white head. Aroma was sweet malts, dark fruit and alcohol. Flavor is really thick and cloying dark fruits and sweet malts. Does not hide the alcohol well at all, a very boozy finiish.

Bottle shared at the Smoke from the Oak release. One of the old 7oz bottles (which looked remarkably small once someone showed up with a 3L of Mad Elf), of the 1998 vintage. Pours a murky looking brown with a hint of a tan head. Smells salty and briny, with dark stone fruit notes. Malty and somewhat thick, slightly sweet, with a little salinity on it, moving into a light finish with some roasted malt coming through.

Update: got a chance to try some of the 1999 vintage...similar to the 98, but not nearly as good. Finished with a nice smokiness and a big bitterness, while the nose had a nice caramel note. Not as salty as the 98, which is one of the best parts of that beer I think. I’d probably score the 99 a bit lower than the 98, so I’ll leave the 98 score.

Vintage 01 glass bottle. I was scared to drink this. Lots of yeast in the bottom. I didn’t think had a chance of being good... wrong. Poured hazy amberish with a small fluffy white head. Aroma of caramel and fruit. Big mellow sweet malt flavor with some fruit. This thing is scary good with age. Very mellow and easy to drink.

Pours a translucent mahogany with a fine-bubbled but not thick head (though this may be an artifact of the pour). Aroma is malty and has hints of cloves and hard cider. Flavor is strong and syrupy with a fierce alcohol bite and tones of maple syrup, caramel and hops. It is quite bitter yet has a whisper of sweetness. Texture is ragged and rough with a syrupy core.

Taster – Beveridge Place Barleywine Bacchanal – Seattle, WA
Aroma: Weak aroma with a very light caramel, and hops nose.
Appearance: Amber in color, clear with a thin head.
Flavor: This beer missed the mar. The sweetness was missing the flavor.
Palate: Dry not very good finish.
Overall: This needs to go back and brew more with sweeter malts and a longer sitting time to really get the flavors of a aged brew. 2009 batch.

750ml Ceramic Bottle: Aroma of resin, malts, hops, and hints of toffee and caramel. Poured deep deep amber/brown in color with a small, rocky beige head that diminished but lasted throughout. Cloudy. Sparkling. A few particles throughout. Very good to excellent lacing. Lightly sweet, medium to heavily bitter flavor. Tastes of hops, resin, caramel, malts, slight chocolate, and a hint of wood. Medium to full body. Thickish, viscous, sticky texture. Soft to average carbonation. Bitter, hoppy, resinous, caramel finish is slightly dry. 11.5%ABV is very well hidden.