Pure Project Forgotten Brilliance

Forgotten Brilliance

 

Pure Project in San Diego, California, United States 🇺🇸

  Barley Wine - Barley Regular
Score
7.76
ABV: 12.3% IBU: - Ticks: 8
We proudly present our first-ever barleywine, Forgotten Brilliance, a tribute to the big, hoppy American barleywines as well as vintage English ales of yore. This ale features Centennial, Amarillo, and Cascade Cryo hops over a hearty canvas of Maris Otter and English crystal malts. It went through an extended three-hour boil to create a sturdy backbone that holds nearly 100 IBUs of hops that will age gracefully for decades to come. This complex ale has aromas of almond, fig, quince paste, and dry herbs. Flavors of toffee, grapefruit, cocktail cherries and marble rye bread intermingle with floral and resinous notes. Its deep mahogany color with ruby red hues, medium-full body, and firm bitterness make for an experience not to be forgotten.
 

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

50cl bottle pours with a clear mahogany colored body that supports a light tan head of foam that leaves behind some spotty lacing. The aroma offers up pulsing notes of molasses, nuttiness, and a dash of biscuit flowing into sweet malts and a bit of sweet dark fruity esters thinly lined with reduced sugars. The taste delivers malt infused sweet molasses goodness bleeding into some nuttiness and a bit of a mineral character. To midway more sweet malts and sort of brown sugar note meekly bubble to the surface as a vague nuttiness is noticed. Fun sipper with minimal sense of the big abv. Additional sips often reveal a vague muted hop bitterness. Wait, what? 100 ibu? Uh, I think the ibu tool is out of calibration.

Tried from Bottle at The Sleepy Whale Beer Bar + Bottle Shop on 12 Sep 2025 at 04:12


7.9
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Dark amber, hazy. Thin head. This has a lot of fruity - some cherry, blackberry, ripe stone fruit, then hops roll through. Medium bitterness, soft malts have a lot of caramel and again it's quite fruity. The alcohol slides into the finish a bit, but just a bit, as there's lots of sugars to cut it. Good brew.

Tried from Bottle on 24 Jan 2025 at 04:39


8.1
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

500mL bottle, pours a deep dark burgundy with a small beige head. Aroma is jammed with huge resinous hops, caramel malt, and a touch of brown sugar. Flavour definitely reveals a hoppy barley wine, with big caramel malt, resinous hops, and some toffee. Real great balance of hops and malt, almost reminiscent of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot. Excellent.

Tried from Bottle at Pure Project Miramar Brewery & Tap Room on 24 Jan 2025 at 04:35


7.9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

500mL bottle. Pours cloudy mahagony with a white head. Woody pine, resin, bread crust, and brown sugar. Flavour has lots of woody, resinous pine and a chewy malt base. Nice bitter finish from the hops. Very enjoyable.

Tried from Bottle on 24 Jan 2025 at 00:33


8.8
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9

0.5l bottle thanks to Lore. Sloghtly cloudy orange body with a thin white head. Aroma and taste of apricot jam, orange zest, pepper, grapefruit and tangerine. Well balanced among bitter, fruity and sweet notes.Very nice, kudos.

Tried from Bottle on 30 Dec 2023 at 13:45


9.2
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9

Opalescent amber colour, minimal beige-ish head; aroma of sour cherry, dried apricot, some grape, raisins, resiny and biscuity notes; taste is the same with some dark chocolate; amazing one!

Tried on 10 Nov 2023 at 22:28


8.3
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

9 November 2022. At Pure Project, San Diego. Shared with the lovely Anke!

Batch #2.
A: clear amber, small, foamy, tan head.
A: candied plum, old red grape, fig jam, hard caramel.
T: sweet raisin, cherry & grape; toffee & brioche.
F: herbal hops, dried fruit, dried grapefruit peel bitterness and warming herbal liqueur-like alcohol.
P: full body, oily texture, soft carbonation.
Hefty BW, sweet with powerful bitterness.

Tried on 02 Jan 2023 at 17:19


6.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

On tap at Pure Project Balboa Park. Pours cloudy copper with small beige head that lasts. The aroma is toasted malt, toffee, rye. Slick body, hoppy, bready malt, toffee, boozy finish, good.

Tried from Draft on 29 Oct 2021 at 20:39