Liberation #3: Barleywine Ale

This pours clear dark brown with lots of ruby under a large mocha head. Sweet candy aroma. The flavor is sweet, moderately complex with brown sugar and dark fruits. Some alcohol comes through towards the finish. This could probably use a little age on it to suit me better.

22oz bottle pours courtesy of Dak. It has a clear amber body with ruby red hues and supporting a tan head of foam. The aroma offers up big somewhat harsh cherry and booze but then some molasses, thick sweet malts and brown sugar covered sweeter cherry notes come in and help smooth it out. The taste has full firm notes of cherries, molasses and then a nice brown sugar coated cherries and prunes sort of sensation. It begins to lean toward resiny hops toward the finish that seem to poke up here and there. This seems a little rough around the edges but nothing a bit of cellar time won’t smooth out.

22oz bottle @RBWG-JAX-still-dk red. A-med malt, fruit. T-slightly sweet med mlat, fruit-cherry. 3.1

Bottle at RBWG. Pours clear copper with a mellow, tan foam head. Dry earth, toasty malts and light herbs in the nose. Medium to big sweet flavor, some dry toast, berries, earthy and lightly piney bitterness. Medium bodied with fine to average carbonation. Lightly warming finish, some dry caramel, berries. Simple to finish but good overall. Nice bitterness, good balance.

Bottle as shown shared at RBWG 2013. Pours a clear amber with no head. Aroma is strong booze and caramel. Medium mouthfeel with a strong Roast and oak with nice boozey finish. Good barleywine from Straight to Ale.