Shipyard Barley Wine Style Ale (Pugsley Signature Series)

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

Aroma: Chocolate, toffee and ripe fruit. Appearance: Midnight amber with no head. Flavor: Chocolate, caramel, toffee, ripe fruits. A bit of booze in there too. Palate: Perfect thickness for the style. Overall: The first non West Coast BW that I really liked. I enjoyed this.

This poured a dark coca cola brown with a short lasting brown head and light lacing. Nose is of roasted malts some ripe fruit. Mouthfeel was very alcoholic and somewhat astringent. Flavor is malty. Finish is watery and there are some unpleasant aftertastes. This seems a lot more like a mediocre porter than a barley wine. The gold foil on top does not make this a good brew.

Nearly black body with garnet at the edges. The head was dense with a medium khaki colored head. Smells of shortbread cookies and cocoa come through in the nose. There was also some plum. The taste was prunes with a strongly boozy finish. As I drank I also got notes of cocoa and weird buttered hamburger buns. Relatively subtle, this is strangely watery tasting for having such a strongly alcoholic finish. Decent, but I would like a little more malt body for all the alcohol.

Dark brown with a tan head. Aroma is malty, light caramel, some roastiness. Aroma is not very barleywine like... Taste is lightly malty, mild hoppiness, some caramel. Overall watery and dissapointing.

Thanks to gypsy19 for the tasting! ~Pours dark tan with yellowish foamy head. ~Almost whisky like aroma with bready chocolate and candy malts. ~Sweet malty flavor balanced with strong hops. Alcohol is present. ~Thin, oily feel. Bittersweet finish. ~Good barleywine. A bit sweeter than i prefer.

Pours a very deep red, almost to blackness. Aroma is of candy sugar, cinnamon, and booze. Flavor is leathery, not as sweet as anticipated. A little dark fruit in the end and a little rum flavor. Mouthfeel is decent, not great. Not bad, but not a top-notch barleywine either. Overall, good.

Part of a flight of 3 Barleywines/Strong Ales (along with Redhook Treblehook and R.J. Rockers Bell Ringer), served a near room temp and in similar shaped snifters: Shocking, looks like a porter when poured, deep brown cola hue with a lasting small head and spotty lace. The nose is a bit confusing too, some sweeter chocolate malt, smoky charred I am able to detect grassy hops and a fig like fruity ester, lots of diacetyl also noted and unlike the Treblehook they are not fading away. The taste is equally sweet and buttery. The notes of ripened fruit and some hop spice can not wash away the dull lingering sweet butter character of it’s profile. GOD AWFUL muddled and confused brew! Okay I have worse but who in the hell would allow their name to be associated with something so bad? For everyone rating this beer above a 3.3, please try some next to a more real Barleywine and then see how this measures up.

I think this gets a bad rap. So it tastes more like a Guinness than a barley wine, big deal. I think that it is really a good beer once you get used to it. Pours a dark red with a tan, fading head. Aroma of brown sugar, yeast, and dry malt. Flavor, as I say, is something like a Guinness poured into an Old Guardian, with dry, bittering hops and caramel, as well as some booze and yeasty malt. Not really much of a barley wine, but a fine beer.