Progressive Barley Wine
Birrificio Indipendente Elav in Comun Nuovo (BG), Lombardy, Italy 🇮🇹
Barley Wine - Barley Regular Out of Production|
Score
7.17
|
|
The aromatic characteristics of the Japanese Sorachi Ace hops mix with a surprising caramel aroma brought about by prolonged boiling, which also gives a fascinating amber tinge.
Sign up to add a tick or review
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Slightly unclear medium amber colour, small fizzy off-white head, dissipates quickly, fair lacing. Aroma roasted malt, caramel, honey, tangerine, alcohol, earthy and spicy notes. Taste light heavy sweet and medium bitter, malty, honey, fortified wine, bit wood, peppery. Malty sweetbitter aftertaste, sugary, woody, spicy notes, warming alcohol. Full-bodied, oily to creamy texture, soft carbonation, heavy duty stuff but well-balanced and rich of aroma and taste.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
22nd September 2016
Billynomates solo hotel tasting. Hazy gold - amber beer, tidy pale cream colour head. Palate is airy and slightly soft. Modest fine carbonation. Sweetish malts, dry. Good Sorachi floral lemon cream. Very mild herb. Semi dry finish shows some spice. Nice beer but it’s more of a Sorachi IIPA than a Barleywine.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Bottle, bottled 20.03.2015 (from SIP, Tallinn). Pours dark golden. Aroma is sweet, booze, malt, some fruits, citrus, peach. Flavor is sweet and bitter, alcohol, fruits, malt, caramel, citrus, some coconut. Finish sugar and dry bitter with more alcohol. Overall: ok.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
33cl bottle shared at the Paas monthly tasting. No head. Very hazy light amber pour. Nicely done
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8
Bottle. Golden amber color with white and fine foam. Aroma: very good, dried fruit, honey, malt, raisins and sweet dessert muscat wine. Taste: sweet like candy and liqueur wine, raisins and candied fruit. Great beer.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
"Will be good for 20 years", the label says; I dug it up from a forgotten corner of my cellar at 3 years of age and serve it in a large wine glass at cellar temperature, which is usually perfect for this style of beers. Pours a beautiful, pure and clear orangey amber colour under a thin, milky, yellowish light beige head which needs some forcing to develop but after that retains quite well, though it does break open after minutes; with deposit it becomes a bit more brownish and clouded, with dark dead yeast particles at the bottom. Delicate, strong and fascinating bouquet of strawberry, orange peel, walnut liqueur, gooseberries, rhubarb, lime peel, blue cheese, something woody, something vaguely earthy, old dry sherry, cognac, freshly cut red apple, ginger, pink grapefruit, white pepper, drambuie, tomato concentrate, vanilla; oxidation is already setting in but cannot bother me in this style. Noble sweet onset, honeyish, with exotic fruits dancing around, smooth and somewhat oily mouthfeel, very vinous with low carbo, caramelly and somewhat nutty malt backbone apparently hailing from only one malt type (which is a rare feature in general), retronasal oxidation but not unpleasantly so, peppery notes and a long, vinous, satisfying finish with citrussy hop bitterness, liqueurish but in all quite well masked alcohol and lingering malt sweetness, a bit honeyish still, as in the onset; some liqueurish sugary sweetness also sticks, but not more than expected from the style. I don’t know what it is with Italians and barley wines: I dare to assume it’s their experience with fine wines which leads them to make some of their best beers this vinous, and I absolutely love them. This is progressive indeed: contemporary, arty label, and American-inspired by being quite hoppy (in this case the Sorachi Ace speaking), which is usually far less the case in traditional English or Belgian barley wines. The hoppiness did lose some of its flair after the years of cellaring but it’s the maltiness, fruitiness and wine-like feel that makes up the essence of this style and I can imagine this still being interesting after a couple of decades, though I would never recommend keeping a beer that long. In all: exciting find, I didn’t even remember buying this, and a great nightcap on a Sunday evening.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
330 ml bottle into snifter, best before 12/2018. Pours hazy/cloudy deep orange/copper color with a small dense light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a thin lacing cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with some slight streaming carbonation. Aromas of lemon zest, orange peel, pineapple, golden raisin, herbal, floral, grass, light caramel, candi sugar, honey, toasted bread, slight alcohol, and herbal/grassy earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and solid complexity of citrus/earthy hops and pale malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of lemon zest, orange peel, pineapple, golden raisin, herbal, floral, grass, light caramel, candi sugar, honey, toasted bread, and herbal/grassy earthiness. Light herbal/grassy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of lemon zest, orange peel, pineapple, golden raisin, herbal, floral, grass, light caramel, honey, candi sugar, toasted bread, and herbal/grassy earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Nice balance and solid complexity of citrus/earthy hops and pale malt flavors; with a good malt/bitterness balance and no cloying sweetness after the finish. Light carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a smooth, moderately slick, and slightly sticky mouthfeel that is good. Alcohol is well hidden only a light warming present after the finish. Overall this is a nice barelywine style. Good balance and solid complexity of citrus/earthy hops and pale malt sweetness; and very smooth to sip on for the ABV. A nicely enjoyable offering.