Shipyard Barley Wine Style Ale (Pugsley Signature Series)

22oz Bottle: Pours a transparent dark mahogany brown with a thin ring of light tan head. Aroma of sweet toasty dark caramel malts with some earthy grassy hops and a touch of light fruits. Body starts with pretty good fullness and carbonation with sweet doughy dark caramel malts, some light fruity complexity and a touch of cardboardy oxidation. Finishes dry, thinner, and bittersweet with a touch of warmth. A decent attempt at the style, but could use more sweetness.

Bottled. Sweet, malty aroma with lots of caramel and dark malt, along with the slightest of toffee. Bit too much of toast and darkness here already. Mouthfeel and flavour is harsh and astringent, with assumingly too much of darker malts, that also gives a bit of sourish touch in the background. Oh, really harsh, bitter finish. This might be good for ageing a year or more, before it develops and gets rid of those brutal dark, harsh flavours, and turning in to a rounded, jelly-ish smooth Barley Wine. I very seldom pour out beer, but this time I did.

(Bottle) Pours dark brown with red hints. Light brown head. The aroma is sweet with tones of toffee, dark caramel and butterscotch. Just like their Imperial Porter, there is diacetyl present. Undertones of dirt, earth, milk chocolate, fig and prune. A sweet, straw-like note is also notable. A whisper of hops. The flavour is medium to heavily sweet and light bitter with tones of sweet liquorice, dark caramel, butterscotch, straw, prunes figs and brown sugar. Astringent yet buttery mouthfeel. Soft carbonation. Light citric hops and harsh malt in the finish. The friendly cousin Malt from the countryside gets a good donkey punch from the evil big city brothers Diacetyl and Astringent.

Awkward beer. Pours with a dark brown hue with no head. Aroma is of dark fruits, honey, alcohol, and some toffee. Flavor is sweet all the way through with hints of alcohol and a bitter ending. Syrupy texture with light to almost no carbonation.

Bottled. Pours out in a clear deep ruby brown colour with frothy lasting tan-coloured foam. The aroma is dominated by butterscotch with tired undertones of fudge, caramel, figs and peppery alcohol. Full-bodied with strong notes of figs, raisins and prunes with touches of peppery alcohol. Medium-bitter finish of spicy hops and grass with dense undertone of prunes and figs. Just a simplistic English-style Barley Wine without depth.

Bottle. Pours with a tan head over a hazed deep brown body. Aroma of toffee, banana, chocolate and dark fruits. Taste is lightly roast and astringent, with a dark fruit quality, raisins, some earthy chocolate, and toffee. Creamy mouthfeel, light carbonation. Pretty basic, but not horrible by any means.

Bottle: Poured a deep clear burgundy color ale with a large off-white foamy head with good retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of sweet malt with some dry English hops also noticeable. Taste is a mix between some sweet malt with light biscuit notes with some dry English hops. Malts are lacking in complexity with no dry fruit or any other characteristics. Body is a bit light with good carbonation and no apparent alcohol.

22 oz bottle. Pours a dark brown with mahogany edges. One finger brown head and a goodly amount of lacing. Aroma is heavy on chocolate and dark fruit. Warm, heavy palate without much carbonation. Almost cough syrup like in consistency. Flavor screams chocolate covered cherries soaked in alcohol. Pretty good brew, but not like any barleywine I’ve had before.