Samuel Adams Griffin’s Bow Oaked Blonde Barleywine Ale

Brewed by Boston Beer Company
Style: Barley Wine
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Serve in Snifter

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Pours a clear amber color with an aroma of hops, toffee, and toasted malt. Fruit, oak, and toffee flavor. Decent beer.

Draft at Moriartys. Clear deep amber with a honey colored head that left some lace. Very rich and sweet. Lots of oak notes. Noble hops. Good first impression but it finishes poorly and develops an odd taste as it warms.

This started very nice but did not finish well. However, I may have needed to keep it colder. It had a nice aroma of fruits, wheat, grains and alcohol. The color was beautiful at a light copper with a small head. The taste reminded me of apple, spice, pale grains and alcohol. As it got warmer though the tastes did not blend and it was hard to finish. Nice barley wine but it packs a punch.

Pours a clear golden copper on tap with thin ring of white lacy head. Aroma is barley and thin maltiness. Taste follows, really not much going on, not sure how this is a bakery wine. A hint of sweetness on the end.

22oz bottle, batch 2. Labeled 10%.. Shared with friends over a game of Catan. Mostly clear orange / amber color. Thin kind of bubbly off-white head. Good spread of lace. Nice oaky nose, some citrus. Pineapple in the aroma. More malty taste, kind of biscuity, some vanilla. Bigger body. Smooth, lighter carbonation. Lightly creamy texture. More dry finish. Little bitter, sweet... Some lightly boozy sweetness. Interesting, tasty barleywine. Not as smooth as it could be, though. Still a little sweet warm bite in the finish. I dig the hop profile, though

Bottle from Batch No. 3. This brew’s appearance combines a clear orange color and a medium white head that fades quickly to a thin layer on top of the beer, and the aroma is reminiscent of grapefruit, fig, fruity citrus hops, and burnt sugar. The balance of this beer’s taste is phenomenal with its mildly sweet, slightly bitter, and mildly umami flavors, and the mouthfeel fuses a medium body, soft carbonation, long finish, and a oily texture.

Good beer not great, We will see what happens in acouple years....I hate leaving notes just let me rate it

Pretty awesome bomber pour than is a very unique barley wine. Oak is a good thing

Bottle. Medium orange-tinted gold, deeper than brass, with a dense light gold head. Aroma is surprisingly hoppy, floral fruit, sweet and sugary. Initially I wasn’t crazy about the first few sips, as I think I had presumptions that weren’t met. Specifically, I expected chewy toasty malts, and I was wrong. The malts here are lighter, and the hops are more pronounced. But before the first third of the beer was in my belly, I began to warm up to it, and by the end I loved it and was sad it was over. As I drank it, the floral character came forward, and the pithy dryness became a welcome balance to the candyish, honeyed malts. Best of all, the oak character, with its vanilla and woody undertones, quietly asserted itself as an elegant component. If nothing else, this beer demonstrates how oak can be a nuanced and elegant part of a blonde beer’s structure without dominating or overpowering like many oaked blondes out there (I’m looking at YOU Innis & Gunn!). This beer was like a new band: the first few listens, you’re not sure, but with time, the music becomes familiar and comfortable and eventually you want other people to hear the subtle genius of it. Loved it.

22 oz bottle. Pours dark honey. Thick white head. Mild sweet fruit & honey aroma. Good lacing. Sweet sticky mouth feel. Overall this was decent, but not all that intriguing to me. Not all that memorable.