Upstream Batch 1000 Barley Wine

Forest fire in the fall in color, with a thin head that fades into a ring. Malt accented nose with lots of dark fruits along with caramel and toffee. Flavor has nice balance and well aged malts. Toffee, caramel, dark chocolate with other flavors of dried fruits. Its a barley wine of great potential, but it needs work.

Appearance: Pours a clear, mahogany body supporting a small ring of white bubbles. Smell: Vague, somewhat mild aroma of caramel sauce, booze, and the juice from a half-eaten tray of diced fruit. Taste: Ah, the sweet taste of caramel malt blended with an apricot fruitiness and taste of oily citrus peel. Peppery booziness. I will say the hop bitterness present is altogether harsh, scattering the maltiness and leaving you with an expected bitter finish. Hm. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: I’ll tilt my head, shrug my shoulders, and say it’s just "so-so". A bit on the coarse side, but, then again, aren’t we all?

My first Nebraska beer! Anyways a dark orange to copper color on this beer. The aroma contains some dark fruits, citrus, vanilla, and alcohol. The flavor is rather one dimensional and bends itself more toward the IPA side of things but I get some caramel, big dose of citrus, raisins, and alcohol. Not really a bad beer but it needs direction kind of like Amy Winehouse.

Pours a copper color with a tan head. Aroma is malty, astringent, toasty, alcohol, and some sweet juicy hops. Flavor is malty, caramel, toast, and a bitter juicy finish.

Thanks to Geoff at Bailey’s for sharing this beer--From a 750-ml bottle--Poured a light amber-orange body with a fluffy whitish head. Soft, floral, piquant nose. Sweet and boozy. Not well balanced and finished with some funky ethanol bite. Eh.