Rogue Old Crustacean Barleywine

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

Pours a dark brown with light head. A lot of chocolate in the nose with a very slight smokiness. This one didnt do a whole lot for me. Very bitter in the taste with roasted malts and light chocolate. Finish was very weak. Just kind of stays bitter and not much else.

12 oz bottle 2002 vintage - I finally liberated my Old Crustacean pairing it with smoked Gouda cheese. Murky mahogany body and thin head. Strong cherry fruit, smoke, sweet malt flavors, and amazing level of bitterness for being cellared for over four years.

12 oz bottle 2002 vintage with 120 IBUs stated on the label. Consumed 01/15/07. Pours a murky amber to brown with almost no head. The aroma is of sweet booze soaked plums and cherries along with a hint of pine hoppiness. Smooth flavor of dried shriveled plums, dates, cherries and a couple of raisins. There are also smooth and rich roasted malts, caramel malts, some toffee, a bit of roasted coffee beans and alcohol warmth. There is a nice pine hoppiness that takes hold about midway and builds some to the finish.

2005 vintage consumed 5/11/06. Pour out very dark out of a very dark ceramic bottle. Mmmm. This is going to be good. The aroma was assertive with roasted malt, chocolate malts, citrus hops and as the temperature rose so did the alcohol aroma. Very inviting aroma. The taste is both hop flavor and chocolate malt competing for dominance. I think it is very well balanced throughout the flavor profile. Near the end of the taste (moments before the next is to begin) I get both lingering bittering hops, roasted chocolate malts and the warmth of the alcohol. I love the taste. Scratching me right where I itch.

This dark brown barley wine has a strong nose of bourbon with a strong, bitter, alcoholic quality. While it is very harsh, this is what I expect of a barley wine, a beer with a kick!

From a ceramic bottle, but I’m not sure if it’s ’05 or ’06. Pours a muddy brown, with some red tones and a fairly small, but dense soapy head. The aroma is great on this, so much going on. I smell tobacco, blackberries, caramel, leaves, and some other sweet smell at the very end I can’t place. Enjoy the first second of the sip, cause then the bitterness takes hold. In the flavor, you’ve got caramel, wood, tobacco, toast, and a real rough burnt bitterness. Finishes like a forest fire. I’d say this is the most bitter beer I’ve had, so far. That burnt tree finish just does not fade. The aroma is great, the taste is good, and the finish is....over the top. Not all that thick, but not medium either, it’s non-cloying and creamy.

Wow, what a difference age makes! Got a 7 oz 2000 bottle from Bottleworks on my roadtrip recently. Pours the same color, iodine highlights, and some small yellow bubbles and a nice ring of foam. Incredible aroma that is sweeter than before. Very vinous now, like it were barrel-aged, notes of caramel butterscotch, old pipe tobacco, faint traces of dark fruit. Woody and caramel flavor, also a vinous tangy note, a sherry like fruit quality, a light burnt sugar sweetness, and some smoke (in the lightly burned way, not rauchbier way). Finishes very dry with a real earthy roasted OLD hop flavor and tobacco. Lingers on my throat a bit, but not as much as when fresh. Although the hop presence is very much subdued, I don’t think it can ever be gone, as it’s still substantially bitter. Not as creamy as when fresh, but still has a thick body. Just a little slick, and nicely low carbonated. This is great with 7 years behind it! 10/4/9/4/17 (4.4)

Bitter flavor comes with this one. A late sensation of alcohol burn. I had the luxury of sampeling this one on tap preserving the wonderful ceramic bottle I purchased.

Barleywine in name primarily.... and I’m letting this one sit for awhile before making my final judgment. I was SO hoping for more from this one. The new reissue of the ceramic Rogue XS bottles seemed initially appealing. It pours deep muddy-brick with nice dark hues. The nose has an abundance of strawberries (like fresh jam) and caramel/toffee, with a retentive alcohol presence. The flavors, honestly, are unusually dominated by a cedar-spruce hop presence, which combined with the alcohol burn, create a hollow, peppery mouthfeel. As the brew warms, sweet malts begin to open, bringing caramel, toffee, and single-malt scotch forward, along with slightly tart notes (hence the strawberry hearts, per the bouquet). Unfortunately, the Chinook/Centennial presence bitters the mid- to back-palate too much for a purely indicative barleywine. I expected a more syrupy palate, one that lathered the tongue with sugar alcohols. This coats the tongue, but with light spruce and cedar notes, too bitter for the style to be considered a prime example. Again, this feels a bit hollow.... dry overhopping is my final conclusion. It lacks the real malty substance of a divine barleywine (i.e. Rochefort Trappist, J.W. Lees, etc.) to hang with the big boys. Disappointing, unfortunately.

12/22/2006, 12oz 2004 bottle (2 years old now). pours a deep mahogony with small head around the edges. aroma has wonderful BW characteristics. loads of plum, dark fruits, sweet malt, and alcohol. fantastic aroma. mouthfeel is full, flavor of those dark fruits, caramel, light chocolate, still quite hoppy, and finishes with a warming alcohol punch (which loses a few points). can’t wait to try this at 4 years old.8/4/7/4/16=3.9.

12/21/07, 2004 vintage, just a bit over 3 years old. pours murky reddish brown with no head. caramelly aged malt notes off the nose while the flavor is extremely bitter, raw, harsh bitterness that still hasn’t mellowed. the malt base seems to be absent as if the malt base is past its prime yet the hops are preserving what exactly? i can’t see this every coming together but it’s worth seeing if a handful of years will take care of it. the hop bitterness is overshadowing some raisin and caramel malt notes. thin body. i’m not into this at all. 7/3/6/3/12=3.1.