 jhumphries69 (718), Tyrone, Georgia, USA
Jan 16, 2008
22oz. bomber, 2005 (pink wax), courtesy of CaptainCougar. Pours a very cloudy, thick, deep, red with brown and orange highlights. The yeast that make it into the bottle look like flakes of cork. A head is stirred up - medium in size and tan in color - but quickly subsides to nearly nothing. The aroma is hoppy and malty with tons of caramel. The grassy hops and caramel are primary smells, and dark fruit and alcohol are secondary. There is a slight medicinal quality to its strong alcoholic character. Tertiary smells are a light dustiness and a subtle hint of smoke. The flavor starts quite lovely and complex: thick and malty with lots of toffee and caramel and hints of honey and chocolate. There is also a very firm hop note that is very piney. As the beer goes back towards mid-palate, the bitter hops strengthen - piney and resiny (with a growing astringency that is reminiscent of nail polish). The malt character continues to balance and overcome the hops - loads of caramel and a growing level of chocolate. By mid-tongue, the malt profile gets more and more like fruit-cake. The finish is surprisingly somewhat dry from the bitterness and from a subtle smoke flavor. It finishes quite bittersweet with the astringency lessening, but the warmth/heat of alcohol growing. The back of the throat is quite warm from alcohol after swallowing. The mouthfeel is very full and carbonation is low. It isn’t quite syrupy, but it is thick. Overall, a very interesting barley wine.
madmitch76 (152), , Essex, England
Nov 11, 2009 5th May 2008. A well balanced beer. Smooth and silky with a wack of malt witha druity undertone. Then floral hops that are dry and fruity but not overly bitter. A real mouthfull.
Tripplebrew (486), Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
Nov 8, 2009 Pours a clear amber yellow with close to no head. Aroma is hay, alcohol and cherry. Flavor is sugar and alcohol. Body is light syrupy with very light carbonation.
ricke (74), Malme, Sweden
Nov 2, 2009 2009 vintage.
Reddish copper color with a slight chill hazy. A small off-white head with yellow hues settles rather quickly and leaves some lacings.
Plenty of hops in the smell - big notes of grapefruit and small hints of strawberries. Grass, floral notes and a general fruitiness. Sweet malts with a slightly bready character, fudge, nutty aromas and brown sugar. Incredibly well balanced. Great smell.
The taste is fantastic. Great balance between sweet malts and fresh hop aromas. Notes of grapefruit, strawberries, mango and cherries blend with pine-needles, floral notes and hop resins. A thick and very pleasant malty backbone with a somewhat toasty character - dark bread, nuts, chocolate and huge amount of sweet caramel. The finish is really bitter and contains fresh hop resins, a hint of tobacco, wood and gentle spices. The bitterness slowly fades away in a really long finish. A sweet taste of alcohol is noticeable, but it’s really integrated with the rest of the flavors.
Full body with a smooth texture and soft carbonation.
A very good beer. It’s almost unbelievable to think a beer as potent as this one can be so balanced, it’s practically flawless. Rich, powerful and complex, it doesn’t get much better than that.
Serving type: bottle
(Copy of old Beer Advocate review)
mkade8883 (52), Goleta, California, USA
Oct 29, 2009 Wonderful smell, with caramel and hops. Taste is sweeter than I expected, but still a good brew.
skortila (2880), Bunnik, Netherlands
Oct 26, 2009 Bottled. Aroma has caramel/sugar, lots of american piney hops, fruits and some alcohol. Clear, amber coloured beer with a short, off-white head. The taste is sweet, hopbitter with sugar and caramel malts, dried fruits/raisins. Quite well balanced for this kind of style.
Lagunitasfan (432), San Diego, California, USA
Oct 25, 2009 Huge thanks to JW77 for sending me this bright pink abomination of a bottle in a trade. It was the 05 as pictured. Simply magical. Hazy orange copper to brown in the glass. Nose is super sweet, rich, spicy, full, round, and more adjectives. Standouts were caramel and brown sugar. Resilent lace. Taste is creamy caramel, and brown sugar. A distinct bit of spiciness and alcohol. Dark fruit too. One of my favorite barley wine experiences ever. If I could add a .5 to my ratings the score would be higher. Thanks a lot JW77.
09 Bottle tasted alongside the afore mentioned 05. Crystal clear copper with light head and lace. Nose is lightly nutty and creamy. Aroma is similar to the 05, but much, much less. Taste is light and sharp, with an alcohol nose. Not tasting like a rich barley wine. Some crisp lager characteristics melded with a strong ale. It was a disappointment after drinking the artistic 05. Rating score is obviously based on the 05 bottle.
caesar (3020), Bunnik/Utrecht, Netherlands
Oct 23, 2009 Bottled. Clear amber color, short head. Big aroma of hop, caramel malt, slight alcohol. Bitter taste on a huge caramel malty body, quite thick, bit sweet. Slight sticky palate. Big big barley wine, very enjoyable.
afireinside96 (817), Mountville, Pennsylvania, USA
Oct 5, 2009 A 2007 bottle with yellow wax, shared with BeerGestapo. It poured a dark hazy amber with a thin head. Swirling it around the snifter left an oily residue on the sides. The smell had notes of nuts, grass, toffee, and a faint hint of citrus. The flavor was toffee, grass, mint, pineapple, and earth. Sweet but at the same time full of hops. It had a thick syrupy body that was just a bit too sticky for my tastes. There was a bit of heat to it but well hidden for 12% abv. A very good barleywine but maybe a bit overrated.
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