Barley Wine
Beerdevelopment Viven (prev. Brouwerij Van Viven) in Sijsele, West Flanders, Belgium 🇧🇪
Brewed at/by: De ProefbrouwerijBarley Wine - Barley Regular
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Score
6.41
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Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7
English style barleywine as interpreted by Viven in West-Flanders, bottle from De Pickere in Zele - with quite a classy front label, I must add. Medium sized, irregularly but tightly lacing, pale greyish white, slowly breaking but generally stable head, misty deep and pure orangey amber robe with darker ruddy-brownish tinge and visible sparkling, turning into a murky caramel brown with sediment. Aroma of very Belgian-estery bubblegum and banana, candyfloss even, caramel candy, yellow raisins, cooked apple, freshly baked white bread crust, Madeleine cookies soaked in cognac, damp earth, molten or old and worn out rubber, pear juice, whisky, burnt sugar, tea, wet papier maché, outspoken (phenolic) clove, rotting tree leaves or even lettuce tucked away in the background. Sweet, fizzy onset: lots of tingling (over)carbonation, almost soda-like and definitely too much for the intended style, playing around with sweet notes of banana, cooked sweet apple, ripe pear and medlar, with a vague sourish undertone; smooth, bit vinous mouthfeel, but too carbonated and thinned by the alcohol that is to come. Malty middle phase, caramelly with bubblegummy edges and sweet-bready core, honeyish on top, but in the end a slight toasted-peanutty or indeed even toasted-bready bitterishness is added - and though it remains subtle, it makes up for a lot. Unfortunately, after the hops have briefly deposited a leafy bitter note nicely blending with this malt bitterish aspect, strong clove-like phenols set in - and then they too are obliterated by a near-burning, cheap brandy-like alcohol effect, heating the palate and throat and impairing drinkability. The banana ester (and bubblegum) effect sadly remain powerful till the last sip. Ambitious beer, but like most other barley wines in Anglo-Saxon vein ever made in Belgium, remaining stuck in the Belgian strong ale idiom, with a huge amount of bubblegum and clove-like spiciness that has absolutely nothing to do with true barley wine, on top of being crudely boozy. As such, this interpretation feels rather far-fetched, unbalanced, unconvincing and inauthentic - though I am sure the amateurs of Belgian style strong ales will possibly love it, also because of its booziness and rather harsh, numbing overcarbonation. Not a true barleywine even if they got at least the idea right, but none expected from this brewery either, so I will not be too harsh on it; still, I remain under the impression that the best Belgian barley wines are beers not intended to be 'genuine' barley wines at all (think of Dolle's Stille Nacht Speciaal Reserva editions, for example)...
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Bottle 33 cl. Bronze-amber colour, creamy foam. Aroma: esters, caramel, spicy, plum wine, even a little vinegar and plum brandy. Sweet taste with light sourness, cherry plum wine, spicy, caramel, unusual.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8
Fles 33cl thuis. Caramel, licht vineus, gedroogd fruit, rood fruit, kandij, pruim, vrij zoet, wat boozy, wat chocolade, licht kruidig. (17-12-2021).
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 5 | Overall - 7
Bottle at home. Nice typical darker red barley wine color, average sized off-white to beige head. Aroma and flavor are malts, lightly some metal / iron, caramel lightly, caramelized sugars a bit as well. I noticed someone saying "barley water or barley wine" and I get it, it's kinda thin but it does have the flavor it's supposed to have I'd say. So I like it, but yes, it is watery and thin.
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5
9/X/21 - 33cl bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck (Vichte), shared @ home, BB: 22/XII/22 (2021-1146)
Pretty clear ruby red to brown beer, big irregular crackling beige head, unstable falls down quickly, non adhesive. Aroma: lots and lots of (over)ripe banana, yeasty, caramel malts, sweet impression. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: bit malty, lots of alcohol, very yeasty, bit oxidized, sweet caramel, sugary, spicy touch. Aftertaste: more banana, caramel, alcohol, sugary. A pretty watery and weak excuse for a barley wine…
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4.5
Clear and brown with no head. Aroma is malty and sweet. Flavour has a sour note that's very unpleasant. Thin bodied too. It's not good
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Deep dark red/brown colour, beige foam. Nose of dried fruit, raisins, caramel. Taste is rather sweet, a bit fruity, notes of dried fruit. Rather sweet and a bit unbalanced.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5.5 | Texture - 5 | Overall - 5
Medium, yellowish head, fast gone over hazy copperish dark amber beer. Rainwater nose, wet dog, even putteke . Bit of coloured malts... not much else. More of the same in the mouth, with an almondy character, both sweet and bitter almonds. Faintly spicy. Quite slick but indeed watery for an 11% beer. Seriously? This is a misser, better call it Barley Water than Barley Wine. Thanks to Stef!
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle. Amber pour. Aroma of caramelised malt, yeast esters, orange, raisin, vanilla, figs and dates. Taste has sticky caramelised malt, raisin, vanilla, caramel, figs, dates, orange zest and some warming booze. Nice one, I like how these ripe fruity flavors come from the malt and yeast.