Rogue Old Crustacean Barleywine

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

[Bottle, ’06 vintage] Pours deep amber with an almost non-existent head. Really sweet aroma with a lot of caramel malt and brown sugar. Taste is very bitter throughout with the piney hops completely dominating over the malt and sweetness. Medium mouthfeel. Long bitter finish. I’ll have to try one of these with some more age on it, because the hops were just out of control right now.

Poured from a 750 ml ceramic bottle; vintage 2006. Murky rust; oily. Aroma of wet carpet and mildew with dark toffee and pine resin; some golden raisin and summer fruits. Taste is abrasively hopped and woody; very dry, and giving only a very dead sweetness of nuts and caramel. Soapy, resinous and very earthy in a completely unforgiving bitter finish of Cascade that lingers indefinitely; waxy. Palate is loose and dried out; medium to full in body. Altogether, this is simply too violently hopped to be judged properly as a barley wine right now. Rough edged; lacking.

Robust and delicious. It was a slight surprise at how much flavor that there was in this beer. I have had other barley wine’s but this is by far my favorite.

Sampled at Cellar’s Wine & Spirits Wednesday evening beer tasting. From a 2006 vintage ceramic bottle pours a semi-hazy caramel amber brew with a thin tan head that quickly dissipates to a fine film and barely a thin tan ring. Aroma of citrus zest and caramel malt, with a touch of brown sugar, and some slight pine character. Taste is medium bodied, light carbonated with a very citrus hop flavor that is more dimensional than any caramel flavors. Finish is semi-dry and mild bitter along with a light aftertaste of grapefruit, light caramel and chocolate malt flavors. Nice alcohol warmth too.

7 oz bottle. Vintage 1998. An amber so dark it’s almost brown with a faint ring of head. Sweet candy sugar nose with caramel, toffee, and malt. A dry bitter body with some hop presence remaining. Chocolate hints with some sugars remaining. A well aged beer, vastly superior to the 2006 I sampled earlier tonight.

12oz bottle. 2001 Vintage (I have a large vertical and will some more time on this one). Poured a deep and muddy brownish color with a small sized off white head. Aromas of caramel, toffee, dark fruits, and lighter sherry. Tastes of caramel, dark fruits, light citrus, brown sugar, and sherry. Medium alcohol in the finish.

Sampled at Delilah’s Vintage Strong Ale fest. I believe this was the 08 vintage. Though I could be wrong and it might be 07 (either way its the freshest one). Well I’m glad I didn’t shell out the dollars for this overpriced ceramic bottle. Pours a clear copper red with a tall frothy beige head. Caramels, red fruit, and brown sugar in the nose. Chocolate malts, bitter and burnt malts. Green hops that are way too bitter for the lack of balance.

2006 750 ml ceramic bottle from Plaza Liquors - Pours a hazy brown color with a one finger thick tan head. Aroma is big hops, some toasted malt and a bit vinous. Again, flavor is big hops, sweet malt and alcohol. Medium body. I think this beer could use a little more time. Definately a sipper.