Shipyard Barley Wine Style Ale (Pugsley Signature Series)

22oz bottle. Dark pour, dark brown. Aroma of vanilla. Sour malt. Astringent. Some hop bitterness. Why do shipyards come with Diacetyl?

Bottle, 65cl - Semi-hazy dark red brown color with a small brown head. Aroma is malty with notes of nuts, milk, dried fruit and chocolate. Flavor is sweet with notes of roasted malts, chocolate, bread and sourish berries. Balanced beer but not a barley wine.

very dark, almoust black. Aroma is sweet and rosty. Flavor is malty, sweet and burnt. Not much bitterness. More of a Stout then a Barley Wine. Not a very good one though.

Ruby colour, beige head that leaves lots of lacing on the glass. Aroma is very sweet and malty, but there is also some hops in the nose. It has a funky acidic quality that makes it less pleasurable and there is also dark fruit in there. Flavour is surprisingly watery for a beer with as high ABV like this has. It has a nice bitterness is enjoyable, unfortunately this beer is full of funky chemical notes that makes it less than convincing and it also has the same sour flavour that I found in the aroma. It has some malts in it that makes it acceptable to drink but not more. Mouthfeel is just plain average. This is a bad example of the style, I will avoid it in the future.

22oz bomber shared with funkybrewster about 6-10 months old. Pours a very dark but clear near black reddish with a great creamy beige froth that sticks very finely to the sides making beautiful lacing 4.5. Aroma at first is huge whisky, corn and booze, harsh candy corn, severely burnt sugars, burnt candied barley, raisins, super buttery, thick molasses, caramelized brown sugar, smells very dark and sticky. Flavor is quite chewy, big raisin, dark brown sugar, boozy, grainy, seems quite English, burnt sugars, some cherry, buttery, sweet but has some bitterness, ashy, with a long lingering burnt ashy aftertaste. Med/full bodied with a creamy mouth-feel, very soft carbonation. Ok maybe the malts are burnt to hell and its full of diacetyl, but maybe if this were laid down for 4-5 years it would actually be quite passable for a traditional English BW. Now I wish I didn’t open mine... but I am definitely not buying another.

22oz bomber from the local Hannaford. Pours a nearly opaque very dark brown with nearly an inch of light tan head that leaves some impressive lacing. Caramel, toffee, chocolate, butterscotch... Chocolate, coffee, caramel, toffee characterize the flavor. Hints of butter here and there, but diacetyl was impressively subdued. On the upper side of medium-bodied with moderate carbonation. Not bad, a solid example of an English Barleywine for sure, being more of a malt bomb with hops playing second fiddle as it were. Not sure it was worth the price - maybe it was... However this has to be about the best Shipyard I have ever tried. Way to go Shipyard!

Bottle: Deep red colour, creamy brown head. Aroma of viny,citrus,malts,and sweet caramelly, and some rasberry. Flavor had a creamy mouth feeling,spicy,caramelly, medium to full body, long spicy and coffee fruity finish. Nice!!

Bomber pours a clear mahogany with a medium tan head. Aroma of pine and citrusy hops, chocolate, coffee, and caramel. Medium body has some hop oiliness but is still creamy. Taste is complex and interesting, with earthy and citrusy hops, chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and dark fruits. Lots of dark roasty malt bitterness. This doesn’t look, smell, or taste like a barleywine but it’s really quite tasty. I would call it a strong ale, but it’s a tasty one by any name.