Rogue Old Crustacean Barleywine

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

A whole lot of hops! If balance in a barley wine is your thing, then this isn’t your thing. Very thick, low carbonation. Opaque chocolate color with a thin to non-existent head.

120 IBU! Gooba! Strong fruity and resiny hop aroma. Deep dark red color with med tan head. Short retention, med lacing. Strong fruity and caramel malt sweetness up front. Some spicy and resiny hop flavors and a very strong puckering bitter finish. Yea, thats 120 IBUs. Super hopped, yet surprisingly balanced. Mandatory sipping.

120 IBUs of pure pleasure; hophead heaven. Virtually no head, but it doesn't really matter with this beer. Opaque amber color. Strong mouthfeel and flavor. Nice fruity aroma; slight prune flavor - very controlled (kinda like Sam Adams Triple Bock's nephew, in that sense). Smooth and silky. Very strong hops. Warm alcohol presence. A 'sippin' beer. Rerate: Year-old bottle was even better! Malts seemed to show more, with a wonderful complexity. Hops were still strong, but more blended. Rerate, year-plus-old bottle: Two words: almond and chocolate. Really good! OK, so that was five, and this is now fifteen.

Bomber bottle at 55* in a snifter. Pours a beautiful garnet brown with a tight, but thin tan head which fades to a whisp. Massive northwest hop aromas revealing lots of juicy, crisp citrus and pine needles complemented by some faint caramel/brown sugar and malt in the background. Palate is fairly smooth and creamy which I personally really enjoy in a big beer. Flavors are well balanced between the crisp, somewhat dry citrus/piney hops and the restrained sweetness of the caramel malts. The 10.5% seems just right to amp up the aromas and flavors a bit and give a warm glow to the whole experience. I still prefer Bigfoot, but OC certainly is right up there.

1999 bottle (7OZ) drank on 3/17/02. This beer is kind of like being clubbed in the head. Intense hop taste that must be too brutal in a new bottle. Thick malt backbone rounds this out. Let your bottle age for 5 years or more and then sip it slow. 7OZ of this is enough.

Finally found a couple of bottles and this may be the most bitter beer I've had, which is good. Alcohol is well hidden and the hops are intense. Hints of malt but the hops kill the other flavors.

Rerate - 7/22/03:
I don't know why I thought this was too bitter. This time around it seems very delightful. It poured a deep garnet color, cloudy, with a small tan head. The aroma was of bitter hops, sweet cherries, malt, tea, and some kind of salted crackers. The flavor was full...hops bitterness...floral, alcohol, malty sweetness, tea, and tobacco. The feel is thick, syrupy, very crisp carbonation. In all, I really like this barley wine. Maybe I just wasn't mature enough before to rate this. The numbers reflect my most recent experience.

Original rating - 1/19/2003:
Intense hops bitterness flavor. The alcohol really doesn't come into the flavor until the beer has warmed a bit. This barley wine is a little too much for me. I would have liked to share the bottle with someone.

Bottled: Dark amber coloured. Light chocolate brown head. Fruits, malt, alcahol and notes of coughmedicine (not unpleasant) in the nose. Flavour is herbal, hoppy and has chocolate notes. Is sweet with some alcaholnotes, but overall the alcahol is hidden well. Is very bitter in the end and has some alcaholnotes. Like dis.