Widmer Brothers Reserve Galaxy Hopped Barleywine

Brewed by Widmer Brothers Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Portland, Oregon USA

Serve in Snifter

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(draft @ Tap and Mallet - Rochester, NY) Dark brown pour with a thick and lasting tan head. Big fruit and hop aroma along with some mild malt notes. Flavor starts with a blast of sweet fruit followed immediately by a bitter and peppery hop flavor. Some light sweetness and fruity notes at the end with a bitter and lingering aftertaste.

Bottle. A murky brown color with an off-white head. A well hopped dark fruit aroma with a nice rich full body of sweet caramel and fruits.

(22 oz. bottle (stamped "03/14/11") from Damon’s) Pours dark ruby-brown amber with a small biege-like head. Aroma of fruity candy-sugar with underlying scents of chocolate and pine. Mouthfeel smooth, sticky. Light dabs of lacing and a light syrupy film. Tastes of candied fruit, sweet but not overly. Light chocolate sneaks into toward finish. Bitter snap in finish and bitter aftertaste. Mellow and warming. Small ABV apparency. Tasty but not too complex.

Bomber poured a clear reddish brown with a lasting amber head. Aromas of citrus, carmel, earthiness, pine and light tangerine. Palate was medium to full bodied and smooth. Flavors of carmel, grapefruit, candy sugar, light pine and light earthiness with a smooth lingering bitter finish.

22oz. Bottle: Aroma of malt, caramel, hops, slight citrus, toasting, and a hint of pine. Poured copper/amber in color with a medium-sized, creamy, dense, rocky, off-white head that lasted throughout. Clear. Sparkling. Excellent lacing. Flavor is lightly sweet and light to medium bitter. Tastes of malt, hops, slight citrus, slight pine, resin, toasting, light caramel, slight wood, and a hint of Earth. Medium body. Slick texture becomes lightly dry. Average carbonation. Malt, caramel, wood, resin finish is dry, lightly sweet and light to medium bitter. 9.5%ABV is completely hidden throughout.

Pours a nice golden color. Has a little hoppy bitter smell. Tastes a littler bitter.

Brown pour, off white head. Aroma of brown sugar, some piney hops, light caramel, and fruitcake notes. Flavor is lightly sweet, finishes bitter, good caramel/toffee in the middle. Not bad at all.

(22oz bomber thanks to blutt59) clear amber with rich color, and a ring of fine tan bubbles. Nose of caramel, honey, hoppy, and pine. Taste of pine, rye, bitter grapefruit, and caramel. A bitter finish on this one. Wish the hops were toned down a bit.

650 ml. bottle. Pours a medium, beige head, with some lacing, over a slightly hazy, copper amber (SRM 14) body.....nose is sweet malts with toffee/caramel tones, light hop spice....taste is light sweet toffee/caramel to start, leading to a harsh astringent tone, with a bit of pineapple, finishing with lingering mild unpleasant terpene bitterness....mouth feel light of medium, alcohol hidden, carbonation low. This is a light Barley Wine. Complexity is low and balance is toward the harsh chemical end of the hop spectrum. I wonder if the bottle was improperly stored, since the hops have lost all floral, citrus tones and it is only 6 months old. BJCP 6/3/11/4/6

Personally, I would catagorize this as an ASA or DIPA, as the mouth is a bit week for a barleywine. Plenty of caramel, dark fruit, and toffee on the tongue, but its killed by the hops. The hops smack the complexity out of your mouth. As it warms, there’s a more boozy presence and the malt starts to shine. All in all, a good APA...just not a great barleywine. It seems like Galaxy was used because its trendy, not because it matches the malt profile.