John Barleycorn
(has 3 batches)
Mad River Brewing in Blue Lake, California, United States 🇺🇸
Barley Wine - Barley Regular Out of Production|
Score
7.01
|
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A rich hue of dark amber with warm caramel aromas. Full body, toasty, light chocolate with hints of raisin, nutmeg, and dried fruit. The ideal winter warmer best served in a snifter. Ages extremely well.
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7.3/10
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Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 7
Overall 8
Intense medium amber colour, small fizzy beige head, mostly diminishing, light lacing. Aroma roasted malt, caramel, overripe fruits, treacle, alcohol. Taste light heavy sweet and light bitter, very roasty, toffee, overripe fruits, grain, alcohol, spicy notes. Malty sweetbitter aftertaste, grainy and earthy notes, boozy, full-bodied, oily texture, soft carbonation. Heavy duty beer, not for the faint hearted, well-made but lacks smoothness, despite that a good brew.
Tried
from Bottle
on 03 Jun 2019
at 15:48
6.1/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
From Apr 2008
I got this in a trade with joe1510. Thanks Joe!
2007 Edition:
Nice clear amber-red colour with a finger head of foam and some good lacing.
The smell gives me a big dose of fruit, caramel malt, and some citrus.
The taste is very fruity with a lot of apricot and some cherry, a nice caramel malt sweetness, some vanilla, and just a touch of citrus near the finish. And man, it does have some decent warming during the swallow but since it's just another winter like day outside, it's a pretty welcome feature.
A few more sips in and I notice how bitter the finish really is but overall, I think it has good balance. A nice BWSA here that's a bit different taste wise than I'm used to but quite drinkable indeed. I'd drink it again.
I got this in a trade with joe1510. Thanks Joe!
2007 Edition:
Nice clear amber-red colour with a finger head of foam and some good lacing.
The smell gives me a big dose of fruit, caramel malt, and some citrus.
The taste is very fruity with a lot of apricot and some cherry, a nice caramel malt sweetness, some vanilla, and just a touch of citrus near the finish. And man, it does have some decent warming during the swallow but since it's just another winter like day outside, it's a pretty welcome feature.
A few more sips in and I notice how bitter the finish really is but overall, I think it has good balance. A nice BWSA here that's a bit different taste wise than I'm used to but quite drinkable indeed. I'd drink it again.
Tried
on 08 Nov 2017
at 09:49
7/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
2010 bottle. Not as complex and robust as I'd expect in a barleywine this old, indulgent but a bit superficial as far as the style goes. Still drinkable--don't get me wrong--but the caramel sweetness is the dominant trait, with a little molasses and sweet tea notes underneath. Hops have morphed into a juniper-like herbal freshness, bitter but brisk, a nice break from the hefty malt. Still a bit of a bite in the texture, not quite alcohol warmth but not not boozy either. Good, but you want more depth after seven years on the shelf.
Tried
from Bottle
on 06 Oct 2017
at 20:59