Sweetwater Donkey Punch!

Brewed by Sweetwater Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Atlanta, Georgia USA

22 fl oz bottle as Sweetwater Dank Tank #4. Pours hazy orange with a small off white head. Aroma is sweet fruity and light caramelish. Sweet caramelish flavoured with nice fruity hops note coming through. Dry bitter yet persisting fruity sweet impression throughout.

RBSG09 on the bus courtesy of some unnamed kind soul. Pours a deep golden amber with a wet off-white head. Aromas of sugar and caramel, cake icing, big citrus hops. Flavor is grainy with caramel and a lighter hoppiness. Dry finish with an oddly light body.

Sample on the RBSG bus labeled SW DP BW Dank Tank. Nose of floral hops, toffee, and raisins. Clear amber with a small off white head. Flavor is lightly sweet with very light contarsting bitterness, caramel, and toffee.

22oz bomber, latest Dank Tank release, and since BA still lists it as different than the original Donkey Punch, I’ll post my review here. Pours a dark, clear amber with a small soapy beige head that recedes to a ring and swirl quickly and leaves only faint traces of lacing behind. The aroma certainly leans more toward balanced DIPA territory with a big hoppy blast up front, with some sweet citrus hops but mostly deep sappy pine in the nose. There is some caramel malt sweetness in the nose, but much less than I would expect from the style. It’s definitely all about the hops in the aroma. The taste is much, much sweeter than the aroma. It does have the initial floral hop kick up front, especially pine, but after that the sweetness of the caramel malts take over. Not much in the way of toffee or dark fruit or other complexities you might find in some barleywine. Nonetheless, it’s a tasty beer. The mouthfeel is slick and medium bodied, but the alcohol presence does come through more than I was expecting and leaves the palate burning after each sip. I can’t wait to bring an original Donkey Punch out of the cellar to compare to this one. This one reminds me of the fresh Donkey Punch and I imagine time has improved it. Right now, there’s just a lot of big malts and hops and it doesn’t quite come together for me. Still, it’s an extremely good beer that I think will cellar very well.

On tap at The Porter. Golden red/orange with decent white head that left. Not much in the way of an aroma--what was there was mostly citrus hops. Flavor is surprisingly hoppy (floral & citrus), with some caramel and fruit sweetness too--but not as much as expected. Alcohol is fairly well hidden for such a big beer. Pretty slick mouthfeel. Never had a barelywine quite like this (lacking in sweetness)--not quite sure what to make of it.

22 oz. bottle same as the Dank Tank #4 bottle as well. Appearance: Pours a light, cloudy auburn with a pinstripe of white foam at the top. Leaves spotty lacing. Aroma: Citrus fruit, rind and oil, pear, peach, and sugary malt. Also a little bit of pine. Taste: Orange, grapefruit, peach, mango, brown sugar, and caramel. Finishes with grapefruit and bitterness. Mouthfeel: Syrupy, juicy, and sticky. Overall: Scary good. 10% + abv, with fruity, candy like aroma and taste.

22 oz. Bottle is the same as the Dank Tank #4 picture. I wish they offered this new bottle in 1L, but this year we only are able to get the 22 oz. Picked up at Greens on Ponce De Leon. Nice copper/reddish/orange appearance. Very little head. Nice looking barley wine. Huge citrus aroma. Very unexpected aroma. Slight sweet malt aroma. Huge/pungent aroma! This thing is easy to smell. This tastes more like an imperial/double IPA. Very sweet citrus taste. A nice taste. The sweet malt taste makes this in my mind makes it a barley wine. A sublte bitter flavor. For as many IBUs as this has it is not as bitter as I thought it would be. Creamy beer; glad to have finally tried.

2007, 1L bottle. This has survived 3 tastings unopened... but the title really sums up my week (figuratively), so I’m going to drink it myself. Poured healthy medium orange with an easily-resuscitated cap of yellowy-beige head. The aroma was a bouquet of sweetness, showcasing aged caramel, brown sugar, and redder fruits.. hops were muted, but gave some dry floral and earthy character.. sweetness masked the boozage nicely. The flavor had a similar malt bill that was sweet throughout.. brown sugar led the caramel by a bit and the fruit was much less pronounced.. bitterness was light with pine and citrus leading.. picked up a hit of molasses along with residual caramelly sugars and not-too-specific bitterness on the finish. Heavier-bodied with a choppy flow across the palate (perhaps due to age).. grainy and a little warm.. overall a very enjoyable brew.