Genesis 20:20 Port Wine
Shmaltz Brewing Company in Troy, New York, United States 🇺🇸
Barley Wine - Barley Regular Out of Production|
Score
7.34
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Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Deep dark brown coloured body with a caramel and soda glow without much head at all - a thin sliver of tan coats the top and fades quickly. Aroma of caramelised sugars, pitted fruits, yeast, apples, honey, syrup, alcohol (of course), figs, prunes and a dash of grainy malt, but the sweetness is by far the strongest. Full-bodied; Super rich syrupy, honey and molasses sweetness dominate with a large, sticky feel and a good dose of pitted fruits, stone fruits and an odd assortment of pears and apples. Aftertaste shows a ton more sugar with the syrup, honey and prune flavours the strongest, and a rich body. The lighter bitterness from the malt comes through and some of the alcohol is of course noticeable, but this feels like a very strong and super sweet mead more than a typical or traditional barley wine. There aren't any real tart notes here in this, perhaps the aging had something to do with that, but the body still remains (which usually dies down quite a bit) and the complexity is all around the syrup and sugars with a relatively straight-forward alcohol and malt prospect. Overall, a nice and very potent beer that shows the malt and alcohol surprisingly well - this feels around 12-13 per cent abv without hitting like a cloying, deep mess, which is a testament to Shmaltz and their higher alcohol beers. However, this is relatively one-dimensional with a syrupy kick without too much complexity, especially on the range from aroma ot finish. Still, a great beer to try and not a bad time to drink this, some 3+ years after purchase. I sampled this 65 cL bottle (why so big?!?!?!) purchased from Whole Foods in New York (Bowery/when the Beer section still remained!!!), New York on 20-January-2017 for US$13,99 sampled at home in Washington on 02-March-2020 (yes, 20:20 in 2020), three years after purchase.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled on 9/16/2016. Pours fairly crystal clear deep reddish brown color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a thin lace cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of huge raisin, plum, fig, date, cherry, apricot, pear, red apple, red grape, port wine, vanilla, toasted oak, leather, tobacco, caramel, brown sugar, and toasted brown bread; with lighter notes of toffee, nuttiness, roast, herbal, pepper, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Mild booze in the aromas as it warms, but not overwhelming. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/bready malts, fruity yeast, port barrels, and light-moderate earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of huge raisin, plum, fig, date, cherry, apricot, pear, red apple, red grape, port wine, vanilla, toasted oak, leather, tobacco, caramel, brown sugar, and toasted brown bread; with lighter notes of toffee, nuttiness, roast, herbal, pepper, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate herbal/peppery hop bitterness and oak/wine tannin spiciness on the finish. Really mild tartness. Lingering notes of dark fruits, apricot, pear, red apple, red grape, port wine, vanilla, toasted oak, leather, tobacco, caramel, brown sugar, toasted brown bread, toffee, nuttiness, herbal, pepper, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malts, fruity yeast, port barrels, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; with an awesome malt/bitterness and wine/oak spiciness balance; with zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from bitter/spiciness. Light-medium carbonation and full body; with a smooth, creamy/bready, fairly sticky/tannic, and lightly slick/syrupy balanced mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is well hidden; a moderate increasing warmth, and mild booze interning after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic barrel aged American barleywine! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malts, fruity yeast, port barrels, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV. Massively complex with perfectly balanced yeast, malts, and port barrel character; without being overly bitter/hoppy. A highly enjoyable offering.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
tap at JK O’Donnells, FW. Totally insane barley wine. the wonder is how drinkable it is at 17+%. hard to drink more than 5-6oz, but super good
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
A reddish copper ale with no head. In aroma, sweet fruity caramel malt with loads of vinous character, amaretto, vanilla, alcohol warmth, very nice. In mouth, a beautiful sweet fruity malt reminiscent of a pinot de charente, alcohol warmth, light vanilla, fruit, light licorice, very nice and warming. On tap at Maggie’s on the River.