At 10.5% this barley wine pours a dark copper with a small head. The aroma is mainly of tangerine and orange zest with a low current of nutty malt. The flavor is citrus hop (but not of the cascade grapefruit variety) with a pronounced bitterness but not overpowering (55 to 65 IBUs??) the flavor then switches to a sweetness of pale and crystal malts but moves back to the bitterness in a light lingering finish. This is a great “Right Now” barley wine. Not to say that it would turn bad if cellar aged (because you know I love a well aged beer) only that it would be a shame to lose any of its flavorful orangey hop character. I find a barley wine of this caliber much more enjoyable early on than I do one of those 100+ IBU monsters at the same age. Buy it, drink it and enjoy it. If you are like me you’ll put a few down anyway to see how it fairs in the next 3 to 5 but this baby is great right out of the gate.
((I"m on my way to the promised land…Yow!!!))
# posted by Beer_Matt @ 7:31 PM
