Rogue Old Crustacean Barleywine

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

750 mL ceramic bottle. Dark brown with foamy tan head. Aroma of malt, molasses, and caramel. Thick chewey palate. Wow, it has a big taste. Caramel, toffee, molasses quickly transition to a big bitter bite with citrus and pine notes from the hops and an alcoholic finish with a lingering floral hoppy after taste.

06 bottle. Pours a dark brown color with a caramel colored head. Aroma of sweet malt, caramel, toffee, bitter hops, and alcohol. Strong flavors of caramel, toffee and malt, but end sharply with very bitter hops, and hints of piney citrus. Good, but it seems like it will get better with more time to smooth out.

Ruby color with a small white head. Hoppy and fruity tones. Full body with lots of malt and fruit and a bitter finish.

Due to the special packaging that this one came in, I poured it straight into my ceramic stein. Due to this I can’t say much on appearance. It’s pretty dry and the bitterness reminds me more of a DIPA. The smooth start leads to a figure four leg lock, This is a 2006 vintage. I would like to try both extremes of this beer. One fresh off the press and also one that has been cellared a bit. Enjoyable but a little pricy. Next time I will buy a hog heaven and old ruffian for the same price.

750ml ceramic bottle, unknown Vintage (possibly a few years old), Sampled June 2007
Pours with a frothy, almost two-finger thick (when roused vigorously), dirty, pale brown colored head. The beer is an almost brilliantly clear, deep red color when held up to the light, otherwise it is an opaque, drab, dark amber color. The aroma smells quite sweet and malt focused, with some aged malt notes as well. Notes of sherry and prunes are noticeable around the edges making me guess that this is at least a couple years old. Hop aromatics are still noticeable, with notes of muddy herbs, dulled orange zest, tangelo and some sweet lychee aromatics being noticeable.

The taste is quite a bit drier than I was expecting and it does not have the rich syrup-like body I was expecting. It does have a gripping bitterness in the finish that is almost harshly astringent. Aged malt character definitely shows up here with notes of dusty, toasted grain / chocolate in the finish, and a touch of sherry. In many ways the flavors here just seem washed up, especially considering that I was hoping for gracefully aged.

I have had this beer long ago, and have even heard recently how bitter this beer was, but I was still a bit surprised by how tongue scrapingly hoppy the bitterness of this beer is; even in this obviously aged sample it still dominates the finish with an unwavering grip. With the lightish body, and without the dark color, this would almost pass for a modern day double IPA; though it might perhaps be a mediocre example. I will have to try a fresh bottle of this soon to see what that is like.

12 oz. bottle. "Bottled in 2004". Pours a slightly cloudy ruby-brown color with a bit of thin soapy head in the middle of the glass. Robust grapefruity hop and caramel malt aromas dominate. The carbonation is present, but not too lively. The taste is pretty much all grapefruit hop character, with some malt character getting through. The hops pretty much overwhelm, and I like a little more complexity from a barley wine.

This pours a very dark brown with hints of red when held up to the light, a vigorous pour left me with a ring of tan head hanging around the side of the goblet I poured it into. The aroma is of dark fruits, sugar, and a touch of spice. The flavor has hints of primarily of oak and smoke, with a touch of sweetness lurking in there, and a very long bitter/smoky finish. If you’re a fan of scotch and whiskey, I would strongly recommend picking up some of this to try. I would love to snag a bottle or two of this to cellar.

*Drank at le Mondial 07* Murky brown poor with a thin brown head. Aromas of caramel, star anise, nicely spiced, blueberries and a sweet tartness to it. Very bitter ... reminds minds me of a good mix between an imperial IPA and barley wine. Flavors of alcohol, spices, caramel and hints of many different peppers... Preaty good!