Santa Fe Kickin Chicken

Brewed by Santa Fe Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Santa Fe, New Mexico USA

Serve in Snifter

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Pours cloudy, murky brown with a small light beige ring of fizz. Smells strongly of bourbon, bold malts, hints of hops. Taste is bourbon, sweet malt, hints of bitterness, and subtle tartness. Full-bodied with a a slick texture and soft mouth-carbonation, Santa Fe Kickin Chicken finishes with a slightly tart oakiness.

This was a pretty horrible barleywine. Incredibly sour and difficult to finish. Lots of alcohol but it was covered up by the vomit aroma.

Sample at Hopfest 2013. Comes a cloudy amber with a small biege head. Aroma of malt, caramel, and bourbon. Taste is bourbon, caramel malt, fruit, and wood. Nice.

Dark ruby in color with a white head, which looks pretty darned bright atop the dark, glowing, reddish beer. Ana says it tastes sour. Although that’s expected given that it’s a bourbon-barrel aged barleywine, I’m going to try not to let that alter my view of it. But it is pretty sour on the nose, though. Sweet, alcoholic, and packed with yeasty and woody sourness. It starts off just about as sour in the mouth, but that transforms more into that of a very wet, alcoholic barleywine with a light addition of bourbon. This likely will taste better after a year or so. It’s unlike most bourbon barrel aged beers, as this tastes less of fresh bourbon or wood, and more of a sour strong ale with an English edge. Although it’s good, it’s a little too much, a little uncomfortable. Yes, I’d give this a year to age for best results. Still, fresh, it’s smooth and slick, and sweet... but BAM! The sourness and characteristics of the barleywine just aren’t very compatible. Santa Fe: do this without making the beer sour (and maybe even infuse more bourbon flavor) and you’d have a winner. As it is, though... not so much. Still, if it makes sense, it’s still pretty good - I think, mainly, because of its alcohol content.

22oz into 15.25oz Spiegelau Soiree Cognac snifter; pours up a murky deep copper with loosely structured off white head leaving thin, elongated splatters all around, half sheet persists; nose is bourbon and water with light fruits and very light caramel malts, as this warms, dates and very light tobacco come in, charred oak when reaching room temp; taste follows with a big expression of tropical fruit juice complexities, sour-ish oaky fruit notes, light fruity esters, minimal spice; after follows with mild toasted oak layers on a medium, smooth body; a lot to be said on this, yet I can’t help but miss the big, deeper layers of something in a similar category such as Abacus, decent, and really quite unique with the big tropical fruit spiraling out from the bourbon characteristics

clear brown, small light brown head. aroma is sweet malty, alc.wood. flavor is boozy woody malty, dry. nutty and boozy barley wine.

Aroma consists of bourbon, vanilla, molasses, and caramel. Taste is very astringent, almost solvent like. This is the third time I've had a Santa Fe barleywine and every time I get this solvent flavor. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Shared by my good friend Dosbeerigos, thanks buddy! This had a good bit of bourbon in the aroma, but wasn’t overly boozy to the taste. A pretty good barley wine, one that I’m glad I got to try.

Amber in color with an average beige head. Aroma is of melting plastic, wood, and spicy hops. Taste is slightly tart, bourbon, wood, spicy hops...different.

The smell is light bourbon, fruit, alcohol, toffee, and candy. The look is clear, beige head, and has a amber color. The taste is bourbon, alcohol, sweet, tart, malt, fruit, and wood.