Church on a Hill
Cigar City Brewing in Tampa, Florida, United States 🇺🇸
Collab with: Swamp Head BreweryBarley Wine - Barley Special Out of Production
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Score
7.44
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7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Panda at home, thanks to Kenneth, 07/06/2026.
Deep mahogany brown topped with a light khaki cap that thins to the edge and a swirl.
Nose is chocolate, nutty, umami, fruit cake mix, raisins.
Taste comprises fruit loaf, toffee, raisins, dates, figs, booze tones.
Medium bodied with bite, fine carbonation, drying close with a kiss of alcohol.
Tidy sipper for the age.
Deep mahogany brown topped with a light khaki cap that thins to the edge and a swirl.
Nose is chocolate, nutty, umami, fruit cake mix, raisins.
Taste comprises fruit loaf, toffee, raisins, dates, figs, booze tones.
Medium bodied with bite, fine carbonation, drying close with a kiss of alcohol.
Tidy sipper for the age.
Tried
on 07 Jun 2026
at 15:51
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Bottle in Glenwood Springs hotel. Thanks to markwise. Pours a murky orangish brown appearance with a thin brown head. Grape, plum, raisin, caramel, maraschino cherry nose that is somewhat oxidized. Moderate high sweetness. A little nutty with toffee, chocolate, and a bit of roast. A bit boozy on the finish but not bad. Probably past its prime but still drinking pretty good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Dec 2014
at 21:38
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
750ml bottle thanks to toby. Pours out a dark amber topped with a small head. Nose is sweet syrup molasses maple and some hop notes. Taste is as the nose with lots of sweet maple syrup and some heat.
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Jan 2014
at 20:03
7.6/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Aroma has a nice rich caramel malt aroma with some toffee and treacle. Some faint smokiness is also present in the aroma. Dried fruit is light but present with raisin being lost prevalent. Pours light brown with some burnt amber and a small but persistent light tan head. Very faint lacing with a medium sized head. Flavor is fairly malty with lots of caramel and some dark fruit. The bitterness is a bit strong and slightly harsh and the alcohol spice is also over powering. Mouthfeel is medium full to full bodies with medium carbonation. Medium astringency and moderate alcohol heat. Overall the beer is decent but it's a but hot with a rather one dimensional malt character. The hop bitterness is a bit unpleasant as well. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone
Tried
on 07 Apr 2013
at 18:12
8.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9.5
400th Barleywine rating celebrated here by tasting yet another Cigar City beauty.
Opened at the annual Black Friday Tasting. Ok, what is this mess? 750mL pours up with a clear amber body with sort of light brown edges and supporting a thin tan head of foam. The aroma offers up a pleasing and inviting mix of prunes, earthy dates, sweet malt infused molasses, brown sugar and then a sense of booze at the end of the draw. Smells of a wonderful English style barleywine. The taste is smooth and rich and drool inducing (not sure anyone noticed my drool just now). I get brown sugar covered earthy dates, prunes, molasses and smooth sweet booze soaked brown sugar. Rich pure yumminess. Grade A+ English style barleywine. Damn fine beer. This needs to be made again and a keg (nah) a palate of kegs shipped to my house.
So most ratings below 4.0 so far. Shows you how many people drink far too little barleywine to know an amazing one when they taste it.
Opened at the annual Black Friday Tasting. Ok, what is this mess? 750mL pours up with a clear amber body with sort of light brown edges and supporting a thin tan head of foam. The aroma offers up a pleasing and inviting mix of prunes, earthy dates, sweet malt infused molasses, brown sugar and then a sense of booze at the end of the draw. Smells of a wonderful English style barleywine. The taste is smooth and rich and drool inducing (not sure anyone noticed my drool just now). I get brown sugar covered earthy dates, prunes, molasses and smooth sweet booze soaked brown sugar. Rich pure yumminess. Grade A+ English style barleywine. Damn fine beer. This needs to be made again and a keg (nah) a palate of kegs shipped to my house.
So most ratings below 4.0 so far. Shows you how many people drink far too little barleywine to know an amazing one when they taste it.
Tried
on 18 Dec 2012
at 21:42
7.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
Draft at the Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2012. Pours clear, warm ruby with a foamy, off-white head. Lots of rich caramel and ripe fruit notes on the nose, along with light spice hints. Big sweet flavor, lightly alcoholic, rich and sweet bread, lots of toffee, ripe fruits, raisins, plums. Full bodied with fine carbonation. Warm finish, plenty more caramel, ripe fruits, cake, light toast with jam, some light leafy bitterness, light pine. Pretty hefty overall.
Tried
from Draft
on 26 Sep 2012
at 02:05