SNAB Maelstrøm

SNAB
Brewed at De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Barley Wine
Purmerend, Netherlands

Serve in Snifter

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Bottle@Home. Sweet, fruity and floral aroma. Hazy, orange color, firm yellow head, good lace. Light sweet, very bitter, floral, grapefruit, herbal. Licorice and orange in the finish. Sticky almost syrupy mouthfeel and alcohol well hidden. Quite complex yet still well drinkable beer.

Bottle. Quite nice indeed. Lots of piney hop-sappy sort of flavours coming through. Pine and also lychee fruit come through in the flavour. The yeast character remains quite Belgian for me, slightly citric. Warming alcohol in the finish is not too over bearing which is good. Good stuff.

UPDATED: SEP 1, 2007 Bottle from Uto. Deep amber with a lasting off white head. Nose of malt, hops, berries and brown sugar. Liquorice in the taste but quite sweet overall. Thin bodied, although fizzy, with a bitter coffee ground finish. Alcohol warms the belly but leaves you wanting more, or should I say better...Average at best...

A Sim rate (Bottle at Ealing B.F.): Decent head. Nice lace. Dark hazy amber colour. Aroma of liquorice, berries, sherry and malt. Fucking gorgeous. Alcohol hits you, but in a really good way with anise and raisins to back it up.

Bottle. Pours a clear mahogany with thin, lasting off-white head. Big fruity, hoppy aroma- peach and grapefruit notes from the cascades rise noseward in a sweet malty haze. Big & oily on the palate with sweet, syrupy, tobacco-ish, dry edged malty flavours holding sway over potent hop citrus. A long, hoppy warming finish. Enjoyable if rather a big step up from my usual sessionista comfort zone.

Deep mahogany & somewhat cloudy body, with a huge and rocky IPA-style head. Fruity, hoppy aroma with a strong & sweet malt backbone; unmistakable Cascade grapefruit and peach, plus a nice malt profile with brown sugar, caramel and vanilla. The flavor starts out fruity, with sweet malt plus peach from the hops, and finishes bone-dry with typical dry C-hopping grapefruit and some peculiar ash-like roasty flavors which linger for a long time. Actually quite well-balanced for a such a bold brew. Not as huge or impressive as some behemoth barleywines like SN’s Bigfoot, but more delicate & detailed. Low on carbonation, thick on the palate and luckily not cloying. Surprisingly good, nice to see such a solid barleywine coming from a Dutch brewery.

Bottle at Ealing BF 2007. Hazy russet with lasting thin beige head. American IIPA resiny hop aroma. Big hit of Cascades. Malts are fuller than on a US beer, more raspberry, sweet. Holy cow, it’s sweet, strong and hoppy. The grapefruit hop aroma is to die for though. Too sweet in mouth, some demerara sugar even. Finishing hop is overtaken by raspberry/strawberry sweetness. Needs more bitterness.

Tap at Arendsnest, march 07. Pretty strong "C" hop aroma and a nice toffee touch with some pineapples, pepper and strange whisky ending. Deep, profound, bittersweet flavor, tons of different tones and a great juicy ending. Excellent. Medium to heavy MF, dangerously drinkable though. Amazing strong ale.

Thanks to Hunsell for recommending this beer. Draught at ’t Arendsnest, Amsterdam. A sweet fruity aroma, and a thick, long-lasting head. This is like Full Sail Old Boardhead. Amber color. Sweet fruity flavor with some malt. Alcohol well hidden. Great palate.

UPDATED: JAN 27, 2008 (Bottled, 9.8% ABV) Deep, dark ruby red with a thick, lacy and partly lasting head. A very delicious, strongly hoppy and liquourish, strawberry-sweetish aroma. Aromatic-hoppy, malty and lightly grainy flavor with dried fruit and well-hidden, yet warming alcohol. Medium to full-bodied, low-carbonated, slicky-rough palate. A very enjoyable and balanced, deliciously hoppy barley wine. I wish all Dutch beers were like this (well, it was Belgian, after all :P)!