Shipyard Barley Wine Style Ale (Pugsley Signature Series)

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

Bomber from BevMo Salinas. Nose of raisins, toffee, and an old ale note, kind of like HOTD Adam. very dark brown with a medium, glass lacing, cinnamon tan head. Flavor is lightly sweet fading to light bitterness, prunes, and a more bitter finish.

Pours black with a foamy tan head. Aroma of chocolate, vanilla and ripe fruit. Taste is mild sweet chocolate and roast malt. Definitely an interesting barley wine, more like a porter. Thin body, dark chocolate and coffee type bitterness. Smooth creamy vanilla texture.

(br-btl bk-lbl, “Pugsley’s Signature Series”, “English Style”, 22oz, 8.5%, $8, 36¢/oz)

§lct-mhgy, thick-soapy-cm-hd, full-body.

aroma: rich-roasty §silage.

flavor: ^roasted-§chrd-malt §papaya-leaf-bitter Ts, silage roasty-chclt-malt earthy-bitter T1, fruit chclt leafy-hops §alchl T2, dry §bitter-hop-oil §roasty-chclt T3.

rich, balanced, not sweet, short-lived intensity.

Bottle: The aroma is moderately fruity along with raisins, caramel, and faint apple. It pours a very dark copper with slight transparency and a small beige head that quickly fades to a film. The flavor starts with some mild chocolate and caramel. The finish has hints of raisin, apple, along with some floral and earthy hops. Medium bodied with mild carbonation and soft mouthfeel.

Bottle:   Deep burgundy, very dark, thin to moderate beige head, foamy, fairly nice lacing.   Bready, dull chocolate, slightly roasted malts.   Yeah, cocoa nibs or something is coming out fairly strong.   Bready on the tongue, but not overly heavy.   Pale sweetnees, even softer hop aspect.   I might so far as to say that there is very little hop aspects in this one.   This is on the malty side. &bnsp Body and mouthfeel are moderate.   Very minor dark pitted fruit on the finish.   Remains bready, almost this whole wheat aspect.   A smidgen of citrus peel sweetness, but thats about it.   Not bad, fairly clean, but not what I envisioned for a Barley Wine.   Thanks Dakine for the bottle!

Mild wood malt aroma with a slight amount of nuttiness. Dark brown color with a small tan head. Light sweet beginning with a light alcohol bitter finish. Moderate palate.

Pours a very dark brown with a tan head. Bourbon notes in the nose. Flavors are of Molasses and Vanilla with hints of sweet raisons. Tastes wood-aged although the bottle does not state this. There is some rye-like notes in the finish. Very smooth mouthfeel. Excellent winter beer.

Pours clear dark brown with mahogany highlights and a 1 finger fuzzy beige head that has decent retention and leaves a few specs of lacing. Suprisingly this stuff coats the glass nicely when swirled. Aroma is dark fruit, caramel, a little roast, light earthy notes, and overripe apples. Flavor is caramel, roast, dark fruits, licorice, black tea and overripe apples Light bitterness and metallic tastes toward the finish with herbs and tea aftertaste. Palate is light to medium bodied, thinner than I would like, with a slightly slick feel and light, but fairly sharp carbonation. Not bad overall, but the off flavors are a little strong and it could use a little more body. Still, it seems to be drinking a little better than it was when I first tried it, maybe 10 months ago, so it might improve taste-wise with a little more time on it.