Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot

While having too many drinks can make anyone a blithering idiot, I would like Weyerbacher’s tongue-in-cheek parody to the fact that their Blithering Idiot Barleywine is over 10% ABV. Hence, having one too many of these beers will thusly make you a blithering idiot.
Pours dark burnt amber with some rusty hues where the light shines through. A decent head rise to the surface, and then quickly fades into a small ring around my glass. The nose is resplendent with sweet notes of dark fruit like raisins, prunes, and figs. malts abound with refreshing sweetness and honey-like notes. Already, I am enjoying my Blithering Idiot, and I haven’t even had a drink yet. As Blithering Idiot hits my tastebuds, succulent dark prunes, raisins, and malty honey abounds. A tinge of dryness in the finish, hinting at a bit of lemony bitterness from the hops. A rather viscous brew, the body is definitely weighty and immediately starts to warm with its 10% ABV. The body being viscous is almost honeyish in the way it coats and lingers with that fresh sweet honey flavor. The rich malty prunes and raisins aren’t lost though, much to my enjoyment.
Barleywines can range from heavy malts to heavy hops, and Blithering Idiot is fully embracing the malt side of Barleywines that I enjoy so much. Bordering on too sweet, she employs enough hops to add a bit of spice and bittering effect to keep her from overpowering. Blithering Idiot is an excellent Barleywine, and I look forward to seeing how a year or two of aging does her body good.

Bottled. Tawny pour, tan foamy head, lots of lace. Nose was malt, toffee, hoarhound, licorice. Flavor was intense--sweet malt, toffee, alcohol, orange peel. Finiish was bitter, with an alcohol bite.

Deep orange-amber in colour with a lingering but thin tan coloured head, lots of floaties, light lacing. The aroma is alcoholic, very sweet, lots of malt, sugar, raisins and plums. The flavour is sweet with only some minor alcohol, plums, caramel malts, light cherries. Warming and sweet mouthfeel, medium body, medium carbonation. Finishes lingering with ever present alcohol, dies off quickly.

This wasn’t as chewy as the aroma led me to believe. Not the usual "scary" Weyerbacher beer but still lacking in balance and this turns into an alcoholic mess.

355ml can from Beers of the World in Rochester, New York.
Opened on February 22, 2008.
Vintage 2004.

St. Petersburg, Fl. - Shep’s Deli - 12 oz bottle. Dark, deep, copper colored pour with a medium thick, creamy khaki colored head. Gumball-like sweet aroma with some cotton candy notes, and figs. Chewy, hearty flavor with elements of figs, raisins, milk chocolate, candied sugar and a touch of maple syrup. Mouthfeel is thick and warming - would be a pleasant diversion on a cold winter’s night. 11.1 abv hidden extremely well.

12oz bottle. Pours a deep, somewhat dark, somewhat cloudy amber/copper with deep red and orange highlights. The head pours thick and light tan in color, but it quickly fades into a thin, persistent ring. The aroma is all malt - almost like liquid malt extract. There is a definite fruitiness, but from the sweet, vinous malts - not from fermentation byproducts that I can tell (considering it smells like a clean maltiness - not unlike that of a doppelbock). The flavor follows the nose: a very strong, very sweet, very thick, clean malt flavor - very bready, with touches of melanoidins (light toast) and caramel. By mid-tongue there is a touch of fruitiness and some bitter hops - along with the subtle bitterness of ethanol. But the flavor of alcohol is amazingly low considering the beer’s strength. It could pass for an 8% Barleywine (maybe even high 7s) based on how unimposing is the taste of alcohol. At mid-to-end of the palate, the fruitiness and alcohol combine with the intense flavor of malts to add an interesting dark fruit complexity. The finish is full and sweet with a touch of spicy bitter hops, ethanol, and light notes of roasted grain (a hint of dry cocoa powder). The mouthfeel, paradoxically, is thick, full and sugary but also strangely lightened by an unexpectedly strong level of bubbles. The beer doesn’t taste really carbonated at first, but after a few sips you can feel the tingle on the tongue and then all over the sides of the mouth from the stronger-than-expected effervescence. Overall, this is not a bad beer, but not my favorite. It is balanced like a doppelbock, whereas I generally prefer my Barleywines more on the American side: more hops and less thick caramel.