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.

Smuttynose Wheat Wine

3.9/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20

22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled in 2009. Pours slightly hazy red orange color with a small fairly dense light khaki head with good retention that reduces to a thin cap of lace. Small patches of lacing clinging to the glass. Aromas of big caramel, molasses, banana, orange zest, clove, spices, and a bit of booze. Very nice and balanced aromas. Taste of big caramel, banana, molasses, citrus, light fruits, light vanilla, spices, and maple syrup. No real amount of bitterness noticed on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, light fruits, molasses, and spices on the finish for a bit. Medium carbonation and fairly full bodied; with a very creamy and smooth mouthfeel. Alcohol is well hidden with only a warming on the finish noticed. Great balance of flavors, the alcohol definitely cleans the palate with every sip and doesn’t detract from the flavor profile at all. Nice drinkability but it is still a sipper. Overall this is a damn nice wheat wine that is very enjoyable and smooth for the level of alcohol.

A very enjoyable Wheatwine that has held up well over the past couple years.

Smuttynose Homunculus

4.2/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

22 ounce bottle into tulip, 2011 release. Pours slightly hazy golden straw color with a dense 1 finger white head with great retention that reduces to a thin cap. Some nice thick lacing clings to the sides of the glass as well. Aromas of lemon, grass, pepper. spices, banana, and clove. Some nice and fairly strong aromas. Taste of big banana, clove, pepper, spices, lemon, and breadiness. A bit of a yeasty tang in the back. Decent amount of spicy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of pepper, spices, citrus, and clove. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a fairly creamy and slick mouthfeel. Great drinkability for being over 9%. Alcohol is incredibly well hidden, nothing but a small warming after the finish. Overall this is an excellent and well balanced hoppy Belgian golden ale. I would get this again.

More great beer from Smuttynose. Overall I have really enjoyed the majority of the Big Beer Series offerings I have had so far.

Smuttynose Baltic Porter

4.1/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

22 ounce bottle into snifter, 2010 bottle. Pours very dark brown color with a fairly dense 1.5 finger tan head with great retention that reduces to a fairly thick lacing cap. Some fairly thick lacing clings to the glass as well. Aromas of big chocolate, coffee, roasted malt, caramel, vanilla, and dark fruits. It was a bit boozy at first, but it changed as it warmed up in my glass. Taste of huge dark chocolate, caramel, vanilla, roasted malt and a small bit of dark fruits. Lingering notes of dark fruits, chocolate, coffee, and caramel on the finish for a decent amount of time. No noticeable bitterness in this. A bit of alcohol heat in the back, but it isn’t too bad; none was noticed in the taste. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied. Nice creamy mouthfeel as well, with some prickly carbonation that smooths out the longer it sits in the glass. Definitely a sipping beer, but highly enjoyable as such. Overall, this is definitely an excellent Baltic Porter, I highly enjoyed it.

Great stuff from Smutty, I haven't had too many Baltic porters. I look forward to trying more from the style; some interesting flavors, and big complexity.

Smuttynose Farmhouse Ale

4.1/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

22 ounce bottle into tulip, 2010 vintage. Pours clear golden amber color with a 1 finger dense white head with great retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap. Decent lacing on the glass as well. Aromas of spice, pepper, apple, grape, lemon, grass, and a small bit of funkiness and leather. Great aromas here, very interesting as well. Taste of big lemon, pepper, grape, and apple; with big spiciness on the finish with small bit of tartness and booze in the back. Some lingering notes of fruits and spices after the finish. Medium-full bodied with medium carbonation. A small bit of noticeable alcohol on the taste, but it smoothed out as it got a lot warmer. Fairly large alcohol warming ofter the finish. Overall an excellent saison, big on flavor, and great balance.

Great saison, though a bit boozy. I still haven't been disappointed by Smutty. I will keep an eye out for this year's release of this.

Smuttynose Imperial Stout

4.2/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

22 ounce bottle into snifter, 2010 vintage. Pours very dark brown color with a 1 finger dark tan head with great retention. A thin lacing cap lasts for the remainder of the glass with decent lacing sticking to the glass. Aromas of strong citrus hops with chocolate, roasted malt, caramel, and a small bit of alcohol. Big aromas with plenty of hops here. Taste of huge amounts of dark chocolate, caramel, molasses, and roasted malt; with a bit of coffee and citrus as well. Decent bitterness on the finish that lingers with the strong roasted, chocolate, and caramel flavors. Very creamy and smooth with no alcohol noticed in the taste at all. Decent alcohol warming on the finish. Medium-low carbonation and full bodied. Overall, an excellent imperial stout.

More great stuff from Smuttynose here. Still have quite a few more Big Beer series brews to try out in the future.

Smuttynose Big A IPA

4.3/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20

12 ounce bottle into tulip, bottle conditioned in August 2010. Pours hazy orange amber color with a dense 2 finger off white head with amazing retention that reduces to a lacing cap that leaves some good glass lacing. Aromas of strong grapefruit, orange, pine resin, caramel, spices and some floral notes. Aromas are very prominent. Taste of strong grapefruit, caramel, pine, and orange; with a sharp bitterness that comes in on the finish that lingers for a while after the finish with pine and citrus flavors. There is some great balance here with some maltiness on the front that helps balance out some of the strong bitterness present on the finish. No alcohol was noticed other than a very small warming after the finish, it is hidden very nicely. Medium carbonation and a huge full body. It has a very slick and slightly syrupy feel to it. Overall a delicious DIPA with a ton of flavor, and also has a very nice hop flavor profile. Delicious.

Another winner from Smutty. I love hops so no surprise there. Check out the commercial description: "For our hopping regime we went with Cascade and Nuggets in the boiling addition. Centennials were added every 5 minutes for the last 30 minutes of the boil. We added Crystals into the whirlpool. Dry hopping was done in both the fermentor after primary fermentation and the bright tank. We used a mixture of Chinook, Nuggets, and Sterlings in the fermentors and whole leaf Centennials in the bright tank." Lots of my favorite varieties in there. It was a little on the old side for it being a DIPA, but the hops were still shining. Fantastic.

Smuttynose "Finestkind" IPA

4.2/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20

12 ounce bottle. Pours hazy orange-amber color with a 2 finger off white head with amazing retention that reduces to a thick cap. Not too much lacing present. Aromas is kind of weak on the pour, but it improved as I made my way into the glass. Aromas of citrus, floral, caramel, and pine with some spiciness. Taste of strong citrus, caramel, and pine; with a sharp bitterness present on the finish. The bitterness and spiciness lingers for a while after the finish. Alcohol well hidden, and only a very slight warming noticed after the finish. This is a great IPA, definitely a bit more hop forward in flavor and the amount of bitterness, but also well balanced with the flavors. Medium body and fairly high carbonation, has a nice sharp feel to it. The nice amount of bitterness and flavor in this IPA makes me an instant fan. Excellent.

Smuttynose has been showing up more an more around me, and I was lucky enough to find some of the big beer series to have soon enough. This IPA is great, and is well balanced with plenty of bitterness, which is my ideal kind of an IPA. Definitely recommended.

Smuttynose Old Brown Dog

3.8/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

12 ounce bottle. Pours hazy brown color with a 1 finger dense light tan head with very good retention that reduces to a lacing cap. Aromas of chocolate, roasted malts, molasses, cola, and some caramel. Taste of chocolate, roasted malts, nuts, and molasses. There is a nice smooth bitterness on the finish, with a roasted chocolate flavor that lingers. Medium carbonation and body. Overall, this is a damn tasty session beer, would have it again in the future.

I will definitely have to try some more Smuttynose in the future, this is tasty stuff.