Rogue Old Crustacean Barleywine

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

Courtesy of Retorp. Pours a dark brown color with thin off-white, tannish head. Aroma is sweet and malty with notes of caramel, bread, toffee and some hops. Flavor is much like a milk dud with sweet and milky chocolate notes, sweet malt, caramel and toffee, and some slight hoppy bitterness toward finish. Generally medium to full body with a slightly sweet, slightly bitter finish.

Side-by-side-by-side of the 2001, 2005 and 2008 vintages provided by theisti & his friend Brent. My score above is for the 2008, my favorite of the three. 3/4/4: cloudy rusty brown/hazy mahogany with a thin beige skin/ditto. 8/8/8: dark fruit, brown sugar, light fruity cardboard; 2005-similar but brighter with a light backing of resinous hops; 2008-bright resinous hops with a big malty dark fruit backing. 3/4/4: Medium-bodied and slick with a mildly bitter finish; 2005 medium to full-bodied and lightly grainy with a bitter finish; 2008 similar to the 2005 only surprisingly smoother on the tongue. 7/8/8: sweet brown sugar paired with "green" resinous hops and cardboard; 2005 is similar to the 2001 with bolder hops and less oxidation; 2008-resinous hops over a nutty, sweet, dark fruity malt. 14/15/17: 2001-nice but a bit too oxidized for my liking; 2005-a nice hoppy barley wine; 2008-a nice tongue-raping hoppy barley wine. Thanks a ton for setting this tasting up for us, Tim.

Bottle 1998 picked up at Bottleworks. Sampled 12/09/2008.Pours a murky cider brown that looks lighter on the top then the bottle. No bubbles, fizz, head or anything. Sweet fruit smells. Apple, peach, brown sugar, coriander. Good white peach, apple, tawny port, butterscotch, an almost perfume flavor at times, some pepper too. Medium to full body, VERY smooth, with a salty after taste. Flavors diminish a bit too fast and more of a perfume flavor takes over. Still good but perhaps past its prime.

On tap at Yardhouse Waikiki. Pours a nice brown color with a tan head. Aroma of malt, caramel, brown sugar and old faded hops. Flavor is Hops. malt, caramel, old faded hops, nice earthy bitter finish. Good Barleywine.

<b>75cl. Ceramic bottle.</b>
Light unclear medium amber orange color with a small to average, frothy, good lacing, mostly diminishing, beige head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, roasted, caramel, vimtage, wood, fruity - berry. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration. Body is medium to full, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. (050908)

I was a little put-off by the appearance of this beer, but it had some other positive attributes that allayed my initial fears. It poured viscous and hazy...looked like malt syrup or maybe eggnog if the primary ingredient was actually malt syrup instead of egg. I thought I was in for a malt bomb with lots of malted milk ball flavor, but that wasn’t the case. Aroma was fruity, bourbon, and lots of maltiness. Still thinking that I was getting a malted milk ball. However, flavor was very mellow while still being highly malty and smooth with some nice bourbon notes. Quite good.

This was my fist Barley WIne, but I was impressed by its taste. Very malty and robust, I recommend for a first time experience.

Bottle, 2006 Vintage - Pours a murky dark amber with a creamy off-white head with moderate retention. Sweet & malty aroma, very woodsy & sweet, light taste of cherry. Taste is very strong and rich, loads of sweet caramel malt and oily hops. Fruity with present alcohol, and a warming but oily hop finish. Good carbonation, very thick chewy body. I could have aged this a few more years, those hops sure are aggressive! Very tasty, though.