Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Oct. 2011: Shared bottle. Very dark brown colour, moderate beige head. Nice malty and oaky aroma. The flavour is malty and distinctly oaky, Not too sweet. Decent hops in the finish. Pleasant to drink.

Backlog

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Das Bier hat eine sehr dunkel rötlichbraune Farbe und eine gering bräunliche Schaumkrone. Geruch intensiv malzig, viel reifes Obst, süß, alkoholisch. Geschmack holzig, sehr malzig, reifes Obst, alkolisch das hohe Alter merkt man schon!

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Vintage bottle from 2010, found at the unsurpassed Hopduvel. Comes from a cute little bottle perfectly suited for the style. Milky, moussy, light greyish white, opening and eventually completely vanishing head over a very dark chestnut brown beer with protein flakes at the bottom; clearly a lot darker than the average barley wine. Rich and unusual, yet fascinating and pleasant aroma of oxidized sherry, caramel candy, peated whisky, rosemary, bayleaf, cloves, burnt wood, candied cherries, roasted chestnuts, fried eggs, smoked fish and Asian fish sauce, candied figs, vanilla, tarragon, cold black tea, banana, fairly strong wood varnish but fitting well into the whole, a lot of cured meat and unripe pear. Densely bittersweet onset, dried fruits, dusty wood, candied cherry hint, dried orange peel perhaps, with a very soft but sustaining carbonation which lends this beer a fluffy, creamy and full mouthfeel; oxidation is present but subtle enough to add complexity instead of becoming obnoxious - ideal for a vintage beer! A soft but profound maltiness ensues, caramelly in the good way, bit nutty and becoming more and more chocolatey towards the end, adding a certain amount of soft bitterness without becoming roasted, as would be the case in a RIS. Finish is noble, complex and simply delicious if you are into this style, with the continuing malt ’bittersweetness’ in perfect balance with retronasal manzanilla-like ’umami’ oxidation, a faint touch of salmiac and bayleaf, deeply buried leafy hop bitterness providing structure without becoming truly bittering, and of course a dosis of warming, liqueurish and brown rhum-like alcohol. A refined candied sweetness paired with bittering alcohol remains after swallowing - exactly the kind of aftertaste I expect from a good barley wine. A wonderfully bittersweet ’dark barley wine’, reminding me a bit of Brewdog’s Abstrakt:11, but with more finesse. This cute little bottle has aged graciously, and though I never tasted it fresh, I would not be surprised if a 5 year cellaring has brought the best of its potential to the surface - which makes this a perfect barley wine. Beautiful vintage beer!

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bouteille 25cl, Anno 2009 de Hopduvel, BB 19/01/2014. Brune foncée, col crémeux café au lait laissant un filament doré au verre. Arôme est fruité rappelant les baies rouges, malt grillé, caramel avec une pointe de café et un caramel restant assez prononcé en rétro nasal. Palais est malté, grillé avec une pointe d’oxydation assez agréable. Cette dernière est accompagnée par un côté fruité rappelant les baies rouges, et un fini sec. Le palais conserve cette impression d’age qui donne un petit ajout de soja et d’une pointe de fumé. Malt chocolaté avec une touche de feuille de tabac, chocolat au lait et une note de lavure sur la fin tirant aussi vers l’épicé. Fini est terreux et sec. Pas mal, avec une bouteille juste pour la quantité.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

250 ml. bottle @ home. Procured @ De Hopduvel. So this is 5 years old now if I get the description on the bottle correctly, dunno I don’t know any Danish. BBF 19/01/2014. I usually do like my Barley Wines on the older side usually, esp. the hoppy-kind or traditional variety, not sure which one this is supposed to be. Pours blackish dark brown, very light pomegranate, small mocha head. Thick liquorish, molasses, mocha, chocolate nose, very nice, light varnish & oxidation. Taste is varnish, mocha, thick liquorish, oxidation, old furniture, old leaves, branches, bitter liquorish, roots, cloying sweet,… Low carbonation, touch varnish, oxidized dark fruits,… Very interesting & unique, probably a touch too old but quite interesting never the less. Not really my style entirely but very unique for a barley wine never the less.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Dark brown, almost black. Some light brown foam. Complex beer. Aroma of roasted malts, dark fruit and candy sugar. Sweet taste with bitter finish. Good beer.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

25 cl bottle @ Gastropub Nordic. Rated on 20.11.2010
Aroma is rather rich with ripe fruits, some coffee, hops and sweet malt. Flavour has sweet malt, some hops, hints of coffee and licorice. Good.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 7.5

330ml bottle, shared with kschep at Ørsted Ølbar & Cafe. Beige head with some retention, dark amber coloured body. Smell of dried fruits and semi-sweet malts. Roasted malty taste joined by dried fruits followed by a woody dry ending with the warmth for the alcohol. Full bodied. Perfect night cap (Copenhagen, 09.05.2011).