Shipyard Barley Wine Style Ale (Pugsley Signature Series)

Brewed by Shipyard Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Portland, Maine USA

Bottle shared by JoeMcPhee. Deep amber diminishing fizzy head. Aroma is Diacetyl butterscotch with toffee, phenolic plasticy crap and some sharp dark harsh crystal malts. Caramel flavor with dried candied fruits- figs and dates, some prune as well- turns into a slight salty oxidation with some sharp dark stwed malts with more phenol and plastic junk and a slick diacetyl finish. Ugh.

Bottle shared by JoeMcPhee. Pours a clear dark brown with a thin head. Underwhelming aroma of caramel, molasses and an odd earthy smell I’d rather not try too hard to identify. The flavor is in a word, harsh, with strong alcohol mixed with caramel and brown sugar. Bitter, astringent finish. This beer really explores the bottom range of what a barley wine can be.

Deep brown beer with a thin white head. Aroma is a strange mix of sweet caramel, brown malt and wet dog. Salty and quite bland without any real hoppy flavour. Boozy with a touch of toast. A touch of dry cocoa but nothing really comes together. Really shitty barley wine.

MN Ratebeer Winter Gathering, January 10, 2009. Courtesy of Skyview. Black color with a thin head. Grainy aroma. More strong grains for the flavor. Finishes very soy saucy. Blah.

I would not consider this beer a barley wine, but I don’t know what the correct classification would be. Scotch ale or strong ale, maybe? Rating it as a barley wine. Deep red/mahogany color. Barley aromas with hints of caramel.Taste is grainy, earthy, semi-sweet. Simple flavors. good alcohol burn.

Appearance: Pours a clear, reddish-brown body with a thin, bubbly, off-white head. Smell: Aroma smelling of toasted bread crusts casually dipped in ghee with notes of caramelized grains, berries, and earthy hops. Taste: Dark caramel and pale maltiness with a minor taste of toasted grain husks and overall medium sweetness. Surprisingly, there’s only a mild buttery taste considering this is a Shipyard product. Light berry, maybe even cherry fruitiness. Earthy, spicy, faintly citrusy hops with a medium-high bitterness. Pinch of ground barley husks in the bittersweet finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: It just never comes together to leave me saying "man, that was some barleywine!" I’ll politely say it’s an acceptable barleywine. Don’t wanna start the new week being a Grouch Bug, y’know.

22oz. bottle. Unusual aroma of dark fruits and roasty malts, with lighter notes of red grape, pineapple, cola, doughy yeast, old flowers and dusty cocoa. Deep, dark red-brown color, semi-opaque, with a fine, ivory colored head. Flavor is sweet, vinous and tart, full of dark sugars, black bread, roasted grains, berryish fruit and touches of herbal hop towards the finish, which does indeed dry out to a large extent by the end, faintly earthy and astringent late as well with apparent alcohol. Gently carbonated and surprisingly light on the palate. Body is medium-full. A little disjointed, but different.

Bomber. Wet barley malt aroma not much else. Deep mahagany red held to light with tan head. Alcoholic brew with some sweet molasas and what seems to be some chocolate. odd. Creamy body texture has mix of barley wine and stout odd brew.