Synthesis
Garden Grove Brewing in Richmond, Virginia, United States 🇺🇸
Barley Wine - Barley Regular Out of Production|
Score
7.19
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Alengrin (11609) reviewed Synthesis from Garden Grove Brewing 6 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Big thanks to Lauren and Morgan for this rare bottle! Very ambitious barleywine-esque ‘beer’, this creation tries to unite beer (barleywine), wine (white tawny port to be precise) and mead into one single beverage, an artistically very interesting idea, now let’s see how this worked out in reality… Some loose, egg-white bubbles around the edge upon pouring, but quickly gone into absolutely nothing (which in this case is not a problem of course – even expected); clear pure amber-mahogany brown robe with warm copper-red hue. Aroma of strong mead and actual brown honey, ‘honingwafels’, white port indeed, cognac, candied dates, brown sugar, figs soaked in rum, caramel sauce, walnut liqueur, marmalade, cooked apples, pear syrup, vanilla-scenting oak, wood glue. Very sweet, even sticky onset, thick layers of brown sugar, brown honey, candied figs and cooked apples, no carbonation, very full, vinous and syrupy mouthfeel, a thick layer of sweet caramel, liquid biscuit, honey and white port gliding heavily over the tongue, leaving behind a trail of sticky sweetness and leading to a very warming finish (unsurprisingly at this ABV), very port-like but a bit brandy-like as well, with a vanilla-ish oaky aspect and with the mead element again coming through quite heavily – with a biscuit cake-like barleywine aspect lingering throughout. Thick, decadently sweet, syrupy dessert drink, more a liqueur than a beer, with all three elements being very clearly present (the mead perhaps a tad more than the others) – and concentrated into one dense whole, rather than three drinks in one glass, which is what I was fearing a bit. A slow sipper, delicious and well-made, as far as I am concerned the synthesis of beer, mead and port has worked.
tderoeck (22711) reviewed Synthesis from Garden Grove Brewing 6 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5
19/X/19 - 1Pt. 9Fl. Oz. bottle @ Wim VL's Stoofvlees Tasting, BB: n/a - (2019-1762) Thanks to Alengrin for sharing the bottle!
Clear red brown beer, no head. Aroma: lots of bourbon, alcohol, caramel, some dried fruits, sweetish. MF: no carbon, medium to full body. Taste: pretty sweet, oxidized, caramel, lots of bourbon, vanilla, soft acidity. Aftertaste: sugary, alcohol, bourbon, nice, very oxidized, caramel, sugar.