Rogue Old Crustacean Barleywine

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

Thanks Matt for the sample! Has a nice malty and carmel aroma. Pours a murky red-brown, with a wisp of white head. Flavor is decent, somewhat bitter, somewhat acidic. Body is kind of light, cabonation OK. Overall, it’s decent, but not spectacular.

Bottle. Clear red brown coloured with a beige head. Aroma of malts, caramel, dried fruits and wood. Flavour of malts, caramel and dried fruits with notes of hops. Hoppy finish.

12oz bottle 2002 vintage. Pours a opaque dark caramel with a yellowish-light tan head that dissapates to a fine film over the top. The aroma if full of caramel malt, with a bit of alchocol, and rasins. The flavor is abit sharper...while it is certainly dominated by the carmel malt element, dark chocolate, coffee beans, rasin, and alchocol can be easily found in this rich brew. Rich indeed, this beer goes over the tounge smooth and creamy...also a bit oily at times...with a long lasting bittersweet coffee/caramel finish. It may be the age, but this beer is big, rich, and well balanced and a great example for the style.

Bottle. Murky brownish orange color with a very thin beige head. Aroma is nice, with lots of dark, sweet fruits and sherry/port. Flavor doesn’t live up to the aroma though. Some dark malt up front but, mostly,the flavor was harsh and extremely bitter with a mix of grapefruit and pine hops. Body is nice, full and smooth, but the finish is another burning hit of hops and and alcohol. Unless the hops mellow a bit with age I don’t get all the 4’s for this one. No balance at all, it’s just overwhelmed by the bitterness.

Pleasant bitter scent that borders on too much but is balanced by an inviting maltyness... A fine smooth head tops a brew that has dark and somewhat amber element. The flavor is sharp and malty with a bold body that is smooth on the palate and goes down smooth and creamy. A fine barley-wine as it has great character balanced with a nice smooth finish that balanices out the bold sharpness of its flavour

750 ml bottle. Fine-laced brownish white head. Hazy orangey dark brown. Pungent raisin and port-wine aromas. Really sweet. Some sherry aromas can be detected as well. Alcohol and hop kick you in the face. Extremely bitter. There seems to be used mostly high alpha acid hops. Relatively little hop aroma, so the main contribution is a strong bitterness. Thick and sweet body. Aftertaste is really bitter. The monstrous bitterness makes it feel almost boringly bitter.

Bought a 2002 bottle (in march 06). Poured with little head, and a burstinig aroma of barelywine. Excellent malty alcohol aroma. I hate to say it, but it tasted a little like one of the best beers I’ve ever had... with a tablespoon of cough syrup in it. Overall this was a great beer, and really what I look for in a barleywine.

2005 ceramic swing top. Pours a somewhat murky reddish brown color with a tiny white head that basically reduces to a slight film. Hints of prune in the aroma along with tons of citrusy hops. Harsh and bitter flavor with a little too much alcohol presence. Burns on the way down. I’m not trying this one again until my other bottle has gained a couple years in age or someone offers some that they have aged themselves.