Smuttynose Wheat Wine

Brewed by Smuttynose Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA

Bottle. Sweet aroma, with alcohol. Hazy ruby body, small head. Alcohol permeates the flavor, quite distractingly. Otherwise, moderately sweet, caramel and fruity. The flavor is nice, but overall the impression is much too heavy on the alcohol.

22oz Bomber Half Time Beverage 2006 Bottling I believe this is my first review of the style. Smuttynose Wheat Wine fills my glass a glowing although slightly hazed ruby. There are a few streaks of carbonation bubbles crawling up the side of the glass to the surface. The head didn’t want to come up at first but grew to a finger+ as it filled the glass. The clean white head fell to a skim coat that left quality sheet lacing down the sides of the tulip. The nose is full of sweet orange rind. Alcohol shows a solid presence in the nose and works to accentuate the citric fruitiness. Each swirl of the glass makes this beer jump alive. Bubblegum, green apples and mild cloves bounce all over the place. When the head fades back away it takes the aroma with it and reverts right back to orange peel, alcohol, caramel, wheat, and a touch of cinnamon that is actually very unique. When the glass is swirled the aroma really pops, when the glass sits the aroma fades but what’s there is still impressive and quite different. The flavor of this wheat wine is exactly as the aroma suggested. A smooth entry brings a wash of caramel drizzled orange peel with a drying, well represented alcoholic touch. When this beer is agitated on the way in green apples skins shoot to the front to combine with the orange peel and actually take it over. Bubblegum sweetness comes through mid palate along with mild clove spiciness. This beer has been aging for two years now and the alcohol heat is still sky high. I can’t even imagine this beer freshly bottled, the alcohol presence would be unwanted and unbearable. The big alcohol drops the score a half point. I actually really like the mouthfeel of this big beer. The body isn’t as sticky as I anticipated but leaves a touch of stick along the cheeks before completely drying out. The longer I sit after each sip the more this beer dries out. There seems to be a solid hop presence even after sitting for all this time that end up leaving a nice bitterness behind. The drinkability is hampered by the big alcohol presence and abundance of flavor. While a glass in a sitting is a nice sipper that is about all I can handle at a time. Smuttynose does make a good wheat wine. I’m surprised to read the label and see this is brewed using 53% wheat. That’s a big number. The flavors come together really well and if the alcohol calmed down a little more this would be an excellent beer. I’d love to give it another shot. Serving type: bottle 7/12/08

hazy copper hued, will pour a respectable French vanilla head if poured correctly. fuity and spicy without clove or banana. More like a saison with some hops. Very soft mouthfeel. I don’t find it boozy at all.

On tap at Rattle n Hum. Floral aroma, creamy head. Strong and full flavored. Wheat malt, honey, alcohol, nippy hops, some Belgian yeast maybe. Really good.

Nice copper coloured body with some stronger brown and ruby highlights with a very small slightly off-white head. Aroma of sweet sweet pit fruits, raisins, nuts, figs and dates. Nice malt backbone to the nose with some slightly bitter english hops also coming in. Full-bodied; Strong sweet flavour with malt and alcohol most noticeable. Aftertaste shows the malt along with some nuts and toffee with some fruit too. Overall, a nice barleywine, a bit off, but mostly a very sweet, very filling beer. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Norm’s in Vienna, Virginia way back a while ago, on 08-April-2006 on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Thanks bro for picking this up. Pours a rich rustic color with thin white head. Aroma is of rich malt, an fruit with a wheat spiciness. Taste is much the same. Reminds me of Old Curmudgeon or a barley wine. Decent brew.

Pours a cloudy amber color with a thin white head that leaves some watery streaks. Aroma is caramel, cotton candy, cough syrup, and a lot of alcohol on the nose. Taste is thick - alcohol, caramel, toffee, and a spicy hop finish. Different.

Bottle. Pours hazy ruby red-brown, with barely any head - beautiful beer. Nose is caramel and toffee, with some soft cherry mixed in with the nose, and bit of alcohol. Taste is rich with a toffee and caramel sweetness, with a bit of a wheat tang in there, but balanced by an understated but persistent floral hop note, and an alcohol presence thats spicy some times and a bit boozy at others. Mouthfeel is perfect - a soft but slightly crisp carbonation that is understated and allows the flavors to shine. Terrific sipper.