Shipyard Barley Wine Style Ale (Pugsley Signature Series)

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

Bottled. Deep ruby red colour, mediumsized beige head. Aroma is smoked wood, sweet malts, alcohol, dark dry fruits. Flavour is sweet malts, sugar, plum, raisins as well as some caramel.

(22 oz. bottle from Lou’s Beverage Barn, cellared for 8 mos. after purchase) Pours dark rubyish brown with a thin tan head. Aroma of caramel, toffee, chocolate, fruit, candy-malt and a bit of pine. Mouthfeel is fairly smooth, lightly fizzy, actually has a bit of a milk-shake texture. Thin, syrupy film and light, droopy, broken rings comprise the lacing. Flavor of chocolate and caramel with hints of dark fruit and candy-malt. The chocolate quality sort of predominates and seems a bit out of place for a barleywine but is interesting. Light-medium bitter towards finish. A bit hot. Bitter chocolate aftertaste. Really not bad. Fairly tasty and interesting, maybe a bit confused. Probably wouldn’t recommend it as a barleywine per se but a decent big beer from Shipyard.

Bottle shared with the guys at the Barrios’ 500th Swallow Tasting. Pours a very dark brown with mohogany highlights. Unusual to pick up so much coffee and chocolate from a barleywine. More like a very creamy imperial porter than a barleywine. I am really questioning if this was mislabeled? Could this be the imperial porter?

Pours a lacing, foamy beige head with a dark ruby brown body. Smells of resin hops and brown sugar. Flavor is brown, almost burnt sugar and resin hops. Sour, bitter, sticky finish.

Dark brown pour with one finger beige head. Aroma is dark fruit sweet malt with some resinous hoppy characteristics, fruity esters, and caramel toffee malt. Flavor us surprisingly roasty- chocolate malt comes through quite a bit. Chocolate and burnt coffee notes complement a sweet caramel profile. Palate is Medium to thick for the style. I wasn’t hoping for much out of this, but it was a pleasant surprise. A bit underrated perhaps.

Bottle 65 cl. Courtesy of joergen. Clear, warm orangey brown with a creamy light brown head. Aroma of nuts and hops. Full-bodied, a little burned maltiness and coffee accents. Distinctly bitter finish. Not too bad, but not really your typical Barley Wine, rather an Imperial Brown or something. 270609

7/02/2009: I know that I’m not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but based on the extremely dark (too dark) brown color, I’m questioning whether tShipyard Barley Wine Style Ale (Pugsley Signature Series) is really going to be like a barleywine. Anyways, it also has a frothy and foamy tan-colored head that leaves thin lacing on the glass. The aroma is buttery with suggestions of darker malts hiding inside. The flavor is much better than the aroma. Flavors of good dark chocolate paired with a coffee-like acidic bitterness seem out of place. There are some undertones of honey and almond as well. This beer seems more like a porter than a barleywine to me. It’s okay as a beer in general, but definitely not right for a barleywine!

1 pint 6 fl. oz. bottle (8.5% Alc./Vol.) shared by Tmoney99. Thanks Tom! Rating #102 for this beer.

Bottle. Pours a deep brown body with a reddish hue. Thin, brown head that dissipates quickly and leaves a light lacing. Sweet and fruity aroma with some rich caramels, berries, nuts, dried fruits, and some buttered bread. Flavor is sweet up front with lots of fruitcake. A good amount of chocolate, bread, and earthy hops guide this to the finish where it ends with some burnt malts, a moderate earthy bitterness, and some sticky caramel fruits. Very dry with a sweet and slightly charred aftertaste. Medium bodied and smooth. Overall, a decent barley wine. Definitely has an English hop bitterness to it, in which its not over the top, but very well balanced. Not up there with my favorite barley wines, but tasty and pleasant in that its somewhat different than a standard American barley wine.