Rogue Old Crustacean Barleywine

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

"Thanks to eagle for this one we did an 11 year old bottle and this years bottles back to back. 11 year old bottled poured with not head dark brown. Aroma was of strong maple vinous notes. Flavor was hops made it 11 years, wood and caramel. Mouthfeel was a little thin. Fastforward to 06 bottle. were they the same beers??? tasted totally different. Poured a redish brown color small head. Aroma was of caramel alcohol and light fruits. Flavor was much the same with some pinhops to it as well. Mouthfeel was a little dry."

Wow - what a wonderful punch of a barley wine. Like a combo of a dark malty amber with the pleasant balance of Belgian yeastiness. Can certainly detect the alcohol here, but it is so buttery sweet that you don’t really care. Really a top-notch offering from Rogue.

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.

Pours cloudy tannish-brown with a tan, quickly-receding head. Some particles noted, mostly toward the bottom of the glass (expected as this beer is unfiltered). Beer was very powerful in the nose, with intense alcohol and citrus hops predominating. Mouthfeel was somewhat oily, and somewhat astringent from the alcohol. As the beer warmed, more malt was present in the taste, but the hops dominated the the aftertaste. It felt like the balance was a a little off, but that could improve with age. Re-rate 7/19/2005 2002 Vintage. Decanted into a large snifter. Pour was a hazy bronzed-ruby color with just a spattering of off-white head. Aroma was sweet overall, with a nice array of dark fruits, tannins, alcohol, and pine. There was a strong rogue-like pine and citrus hop presence in the flavor, and it was complemented well by some bready, raisiny malts. Slight alcohol burn toward the back of the palate. Oily mouthfeel. The hops eased off a bit from the younger bottle that I tried, which improved the balance. Long hoppy finish that was nice and warming.

Brown-orange cloudy color with thin head. Chocolate aroma. Lack of carbonation. Sweet malty flavor followed by with high alcoholic content on the way down and strong piny hop balance.

Clay Flip Top Bottle:Milk chocolaty cloudy brown color with a reddish tint. It displays a thick foamy head and sticky lacing. I picked up the alcohol in the aroma and on the bottle it actually says 11.5 contra the 10.5 listed here. I also noticed rich musty malts and a sweet hop presence. The taste - WOW! Powerful, sturdy backbone are a couple of words that come to mind. I like the balance of the in your face hops mellowed out by the malt structure. The aftertaste has a cough syrup quality (I think the green flavor) that is mainly sweet but leaves a nice blunted bitter affect as well. The feel is just right for a BW. I like this one a lot.

This poured a brownish-amber color with a slender tan head. The aroma is vinuous, perhaps port-like, with the addition of some malts. Has a very smooth, almost creamy mouth-feel. The taste is caramel malt sweetness, some bitter hopping, and a mild alcohol presence. This is a very drinkable barley wine. Good stuff.

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Bottle. This pours a syrupy deep golden/brown goodness. Hops are up front, piney and cirtusey flavors hitting the palate. The alcohol warms, but not overwhlems the sweet malt. Thumbs up!