Rogue Old Crustacean Barleywine

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

draft @ portland public house - 2007 edition; again served in a monster goblet; dark orange with slight head and lots of haze; lots of spice in the aromas and mixed with some hops, a little sugar and alcohol; flavors pack a mouthful and drinks a little harsh; not quite my style of BW, but could use some time to mellow and even out

On tap at Zeno’s Pub - State College, PA. Aroma glows in a really intricate and developed fruitiness carried by a fragrant hop glow. Here the hops take on a new form, in bold spiced fruits, suave cologne perspective, and savory assumptions. There’s a notable estery character, but lots of giant hop presence. Smells great and evolves with a warming temperature. Looks inviting, with a deep ruddy-brown glow, as if a darkened ruby, shrouded with dripping shawls of heavily cloaking khaki satin. Flavor develops a lot of complexity. The hops merge with intense malt, alcohol, and yeast products, all tasting pretty good if not hot and harsh from the hops. This is to be expected. Turpentine-like as the brewer describes.There’s a palpable bubble-gum quality to the ester profile that actually isn’t detracting, instead it’s really refined and maturely fruity, adding to the depth already brought by the hop profile, which is rather destructive. Downfall is alcohol heat and biting bitterness. I cannot imagine how delicious this will be in two years. I would love to try some sufficiently aged. It’s obvious the hop profile is overly complex and will develop nuance as some of the raging overtones die down with time. Very interesting.

July 2006 - Well, split the bomber with my dad. His half had a beautiful head, mine had none. His had lacing, mine had none. He got the "top" half. Anyway, aroma and flavor was caramel sweetness with piney hops. Really, really hoppy, but lots of malt to balance it out. A "big" beer in every sense of the word. A little too bitter for my liking, but a solid, solid beer, nonetheless.

Had this beer in the Rogue X bottle, which has an ABV of 11.5% and is slightly higher than the current listing with the old bottle. One of the more intense barley wines I’ve had. Complex aroma of alcohol, grapefruit, darker sugar, sweet malts. Not much in the way of hops, although if you smell it long enough, you can detect some hop resin. The dark and roasted malt flavors and somewhat shut out by the almost overwhelming bitterness from the hops...you can definitly taste the 110 IBUs. In some barley wines the intense hops are balanced out by the incredible amounts of malt used, by Rogue comes up a bit short here. A decent barley wine, but not worth the price to buy again.

So I’ve had many Barleywines in my day and this one is a bit harsh when compared to others. Aging definitely would do this beer a world of good!!! Sharp bitterness and sweet malts combat one another and unfortunately, neither wins. It seems to be an unfocused mixture of flavors. At $16/bottle...I would expect exquisite. "Under promise, over deliver" has always been a motto of mine. This, however, is the opposite.

03 bottle shared by Crosling. Poured a deep amber color with a super thin beige head. Aroma of grapefruit, sweet malts, and some alcohol. Sweet malts with some fruity undertones (grapefruit and orange) lead into a moderately bitter, floral hop end. Nice, dry finish that lets your palate know who’s boss. Although there was some alcohol on the nose, none came through in the flavor. It was smooth and easy to drink for being such a bold beer. Thanks for busting out this oldie Crosling.

Bottle. Dark brown in color with a nice aroma of hops, fruit, and malt. As far as the taste goes... wow a bit on the bitter side. Nothing like what it smells like. Dry, heavy on the alcohol with only the smallest hint of the fruit that you smell in the aroma.

7oz bottle-A reddish brown body with a nice tan head and an aroma of alcohol and roasted malt. Taste of the same with some caramel and toffee added in. One of my first Barley Wines and still not bad in fact quite tasty. 750ml(2006 ceramic bottle)-Pours a dark amber body with a nice tight off white head. Aroma of sweetness, prunes, caramel, and dark fruit. Taste is of the same with a bit of alcohol coming through. A nice tasting Barley Wine. One of the better products from Rogue.