Rogue Old Crustacean Barleywine

Lightly hazed brown pour with light head and lace. Dried fruit and molasses on the nose. Almost a chocolate flavor, raisins, and a very good bitter. Mouthfeel thick and full with very light carbonation. A good BW with a bitter that surprised me.

Tasted 12/20/08, when I was having trouble accessing the site. Bottled in 2001, purchased in 2008. Hmm...is rich ruby red the same as murky brownish maroon? White, quickly dissipating head. Very strong aroma, just a million things going on. Smells of an antique shop (seriously), raspberries, blueberries, bread, red wine, fruity breakfast cereal, Flintstones vitamins. Flavor is complex, gentle (especially in comparison to nose) - cognac, cabernet, grape juice, and I’ll say cardboard too since I see someone said it below. Overall a massive chocolatey malt foundation. Uneven sparse lacing. If complexity equals quality, this is a great beer, the relative lack of carbonation notwithstanding. But for me the mutedness of the flavor, complex though it is, takes it down a notch. Not considered when rating: I left the glass on the table for awhile while I did other things, and over a few hours the smell really began to nauseate me. Next bottle I will pour in four cordial glasses to discuss with three friends for an hour.

This is a good barleywine with a lot going on, more so than some of the others I have tried. A good beer to relax with.

Pours a beautiful ruby red color. There is a mildy fruity and largley hoppy aroma, with some candy like malt sweetness just in the background. The lace is good and the beer has a decent head retention. Flavor is a little soapy with strong licorice notes, a cherry like fruitiness and plenty of hop bitterness. A very good example of american barley wine.

Lovely ruby red misty pour good carbonation head was not thick but was fluffy and had a sulphur yellow tinge to it there is a mild coverage of lace now aroma caramel toffee honey malts alcohol vapours flavours strong tang full hops citric rind superb bitter caramel toffee a mellowness is there to even up with the bitterness grapefruit taste malt powerful drink with lovely flavours finish tangy bitter with a mellowness.

I don’t mean to slam this beer (I would recommend against doing this literally while drinking it), but this was one of the worst tasting beers/barley wines I have ever tried! To be honest, I haven’t tasted that many barley wines, but I have tasted some good ones so it isn’t because I don’t care for barley wines, I just don’t care for this one. I would say this beer starts out okay but you are soon left with a putrid taste of terror as it slides down your throat. Take my advice, if you never tried barley wines or are not a barley wine enthusiast, RUN AWAY from this one as fast as you can.

Nice dark brown color with a lovely off-white head. The beer leaves awesome lacing. The beer looks amazing, overall; a perfect appearance. Very nice smooth malty aroma. This beer is very pungent. There is not a problem smelling this beer. Huge bittering hop that lingers with a nice malt smoothness. This beer is awesome when it comes to the hops. Palate is not as creamy as I thought it would be. Overall, this is my favorite barley wine ever. I was surprised by the low 90’s rating. Perfect barley wine that has an awesome hop profile with a pungent aroma that you can’t help but smell.

2007 ceramic bottle. Pours a hazy, red-orange body with thick, creamy tan head. Aroma of belgian malts, raisin, toffee, and citrus hops. Flavor of grain, malts, raisins, grapefruit hops, and a hint of pine. Medium bodied with a smooth mouthfeel. Grapefruit finish and aftertaste with a hint of roasted malts.