Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale

3.9/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

22 ounce bottle into snifter, 2011 bottle; so it is probably about a year old now. Pours hazy reddish orange color with a nice 1 finger dense khaki head with good retention that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Some spotty lacing on the glass. Aromas of big caramel, apple skin, biscuit, grapefruit, pine, herbal spiciness, citrus peel, molasses, some dark fruit, and a bit of alcohol. Nice and well balanced barleywine aromas here. Taste of big caramel, orange zest, pine, biscuit, dark fruit, grapefruit, herbal spiciness, molasses, toffee, and toasted malt. Decent amount of bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of big caramel, citrus, pine, molasses, and herbal spiciness on the finish for a while. Medium carbonation and full bodied; with a very creamy and slick mouthfeel. At 11.6% this is most certainly a sipper, and I would expect it to be. Good balance of flavors and bitterness; with a nice malt forward profile. Alcohol is fairly well hidden with only a warming present on the finish. Overall this is a very nice and well balanced barelywine. Nice flavor profile and very enjoyable stuff.

Still a little hot right now; but this turned out to be a very nice barelywine as it got much warmer. Very enjoyable to sip on slowly.