Uinta Anniversary Barley Wine

This was a 12 oz bottle, XV Anniversary. Aroma is a sweet caramel scent with some alcohol in the back. Color is a deep dark ruby with almost no carbonation and just a thin ring for a head. Taste is sweet, fruity and a bit light. Starting with a full/medium body it goes down with a sweet feel. Finish comes in with a sweet roasted malt taste that has some nice raisin tones the a mild bitterness. In the after taste the bitterness builds a little with just a hint of alcohol. This is a nice Barley Wine, its a little lighter then most and a bit bitter but still tasty.

12 oz bottle, XV Anniversary. Deep amber brown with a trace of foam. Nose is toasted caramel and buttery hops. Almost medium with faint carb. Taste is toffee, flat club soda, a touch of raisin then bitter grass. Maybe too young but not bad now.

14th Anniversary Release, Bottled December 2007; Sampled July 2008
A vigorous pour into my New Belgium globe glass produces an almost three-finger thick, amber tinged, lightly browned, dark tan colored head. The beer is a very dark amber / brown color that shows a brilliantly clear, striking cranberry color when held up to the light. The aroma is sticky with hop notes of candied citrus, lychee, candied pine needles, some harder pine sap notes and a solid herbal backdrop. The dominant hop aromatics are supported by a sticky malt base that is quite caramelized, has some rich toasty notes and ample biscuit aromatics. The aroma is quite nice and I am definitely enjoying the sticky hop notes. While hop focused, this is not nearly as hop dominated as a Bigfoot of this age is, there is quite a bit more malt character here.

Spicy hop flavors mix with ample toasty malt notes. Seems a touch more malt focused than the aroma, but it is still leans more to the hop side of the spectrum at this point; this should get quite malty as it ages out. Lots of bitterness from the get go, towards the finish this even gets a little astringent in its bitterness with green, almost tannic, hop influences. Not quite as rich as one would expect from a beer of 10% abv; it has a medium thickness to it with a soft creamy viscousness; actually the sharp hop bitterness really cuts through the body quite a bit. In the end, somehow, this manages to seem a bit thin. This does have a nice malt character to it though; lots of toasty, almost brown malt flavors, dark bread notes and some caramelized berry flavors.

I really like the aroma of this beer and I think that it will age quite gracefully, but it is just too harshly bitter to be really enjoyable right now. Give this at least two years and this should be tasting quite nice (thankfully I was sent two bottles of this). This is definitely a beer to lay down, in fact I would guess the Brewer brewed this with that intent; so hold on to those Fourteens for a bit.

I really like this. If you are looking for a good 3 beers but are too lazy to drink 3 have one of these and go to bed. I am going to cellar the rest of this sixer for colder weather.

Bottle thanks to Douglas88! XIV version. I never really thought of Utah when it came to barley wines, but I was surprised. Pours dark amber with a small dissipating head. Aroma is strong of malt and alcohol, typical of barley wines, but some great hops in there also. Taste is hoppier than some other barely wines, but is supported by a large amount as malt and a little bit of alcohol. Very smooth and drinkable barley wine, not harsh at all.