Rogue Old Crustacean Barleywine

Bottle. 2003 vintage. Pours murky brown with minimal head. Nice aroma of raisins, caramel, butterscotch, a bit of hops. Quite vibrant on the tongue... not as oily as I had expected. Bitter chocolate on the palate with a hint of malt and hops. Finishes dry and hoppy.

9 year vertical tasting, starting with 1997, skipping 2001, ending with 2006.

1997. Aroma of sweet caramel malt and alcohol. Pours hazy brownish orange. Looks still. Flavor is alcoholic with hints of honey and earthy hops. Oily on the palate with almost no carbonation. Finishes with a lot of metallic dryness. 5/3/4/3 - 2.8

1998. Aroma or caramel malt and soapy hops. Pours amber/brown with copper highlights. Simple flavor. Sweet malt, earthy hops and copper. Medium bodied. Finishes with a copper metallicness. 6/3/5/3 - 3.1

1999. Aroma of rich, sweet and fruity malt. Pours rich, full orange with brown highlights. Grassy hops with a nice amount of malty sweetness on the tongue. Medium to full bodied. Good carbonation. Still finishes with a hint of metal. 6/3/5/3 - 3.2

2000. Dried fruit and caramel aroma. Pours hazy brown/orange. Interesting flavor: tobacco, leather and some sweet malt. More complex than other vintages. Medium bodied. Finishes hoppy with (still) a hint of metal. 5/3/5/3 - 3.1

2002. Aroma initially of sweet caramel malt then turns quite grassy. Pours hazy brown/orange. Decent balance on the palate of grassy hops (with some citrus) and sweet malt. Medium bodied. Finishes dry and grassy. 6/3/6/3 - 3.4

2003. Interesting aroma. Orange and pear must with caramel and toffee. Pours copper/amber. Nice amount of citrus and grassy hops with some toffee malt. Medium bodied. Finishes hoppy and (still!!) metallic. 6/4/5/3 - 3.4

2004. Aroma of caramel, orange zest, pineapple, alcohol and hops. Pours amber/orange. Looks still. Flavor has lots of dry, acidic hops, cardboard, malt and alcohol. Medium bodied, good carbonation. Finishes with dry, citrus hops and alcohol. 6/3/6/3 - 3.4

2005. Aroma of caramel, alcohol. tobacco, leather and a hint of citrus hops. Pours murky copper with amber highlights. Flavor is starting to balance out (no copper!). Caramel, grapefruit and pine hops. Medium to full bodied. Good carbonation. Finishes with a burst of dry, grassy hoppiness. 7/3/7/3 - 3.6

2006. Disappointing aroma of hot alcohol. Some malt and hops, but heavy on the alcohol. Pours bright, full copper with a nice rocky head and sticky lacing. Finally! A good balance of dry, citrus hops and sweet, sticky malt. Grassy, dry hops, sweet malt with a pleasant alcohol warmth. Rich and creamy. Medium to full bodied. Finishes with some dry and grassy hops. 5/4/7/4 - 3.6

2007... yet to rate,,,

Pours a brown color with a light brown head. Aroma is slightly malty with some hoppiness to it. Flavor is malty caramel with a slight bitter hoppiness to it.

Bottled. Hazy reddish brown collured with a small off-white head. Malty and somewhat sweet with notes of alcohol, yeast, pines, hops, citrus and toffee.

Swing top bottle. Pours a hazy amber color with a small off white head. Aroma of hops, yeast and overly ripe fruit. Taste is bitter and unbalanced. This was not a pleasent or easy to drink beer. I was disappointed to say the least.

Bottle: Ruby/amber pour with virtually no head. Nose of dark fruit and malts, hints at the presence of alcohol. Taste is very smooth and mellow, light alcohol notes. Dark fruit, citrus, caramel, and malt is present. Very drinkable barleywine. Thanks BuckDich for the sample.

Nip from 1997. Brown, hazy pour, floaties and ugliness. Just right for a barleywine. Aroma is positively delicious, lots of soft chocolate and left-over resins from the once 120 IBU hops. Molasses and sherry, black pepper and booze. Taste is very smooth and mellow, with lots of old, sweet malts up front, and then a mid-taste blast of leftover hops, finishing with a hot and liquory finish. Drank side by side with a 2004 old foghorn, this one was the positive winner.

Bottle (Mig). Unclear red/brown - offwhite head. High hoppy, berriesm ryebread, malty, chlorid, malty, a bit sharp. High carbonated. Not bad - but I expected it to be better.

Cool stone bottle. Pours a clear brown with a diminnishing head. Smells a bit of alcohol. The beer tastes sweet and vinous. Also some dark fruits flavors. Very full flavored. Sharp carbonation. Bitter finish.