Griffin's Bow
Samuel Adams in Boston, Massachusetts, United States 🇺🇸
Barley Wine - Barley Rotating Out of Production|
Score
7.04
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Small Batch Series: From the aroma and notes of sweet honeysuckle, pineapple, and grapefruit, to richer hints of burnt sugar, and toffee, this intriguing brew is full of complex flavors. The distinct character of toasted oak adds depth and contrasts the light fruit sweetness. This unique take on a barleywine ale surprises with its smoothness and balance of fruit, hop citrus, and warming strength.
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6.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
Half liter bottle pours clear copper with off white head. The aroma is bold vanilla mixed with smooth bourbon and then lesser amounts of coconut and sweet fruity esters. The taste is similar with bold sweet vanilla blending with smooth sugary sweet bourbon and then giving way to modest levels of sweet coconut, sweet sugar coated spicy oak and sweet light skinned fruity esters. Yep, this is sweet and is almost entirely barrel treatment notes. Too much for my taste. I’d much prefer more balance with the actual beer notes.
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 Jan 2012
at 18:26
7.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bomber from Malt & Vine. Pours copper with a creamy, fizzy near-beige head. Lots of fruit in the aroma - pineapple I can discern. Full bodied. Flavor is caramel, astringent oak, and as the caramel washes away there’s grapefruit rind. It really is quite astringent. Interesting balance. Certainly not the standard heavy sweet barleywine. Pretty good stuff, and though the alcohol is clearly present, it’s not disturbing the experience.
Tried
from Can
on 05 Jan 2012
at 17:36
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Pours clear copper color with off white head. Citrus and caramel aromas. Bitter grapefruit rind and orange citrus flavors with some woodiness and malt sweetness. Medium to full body with minimal carbonation and a syrupy mouthfeel. Much better than I was expecting.
Tried
on 02 Jan 2012
at 20:21
7.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 5.5
Bottle @ home. Brownish, dark orange appearance with an off white head. Pretty rich woody, oaky, big toffee, sweet caramel malty aroma. Lots of wood, oak, rich caramel/toffee, vanilla, mild citrusy flavor that’s mostly dominated really by the wood. It is pretty smooth for 11.5% abv but overall, not my favorite.
Tried
from Bottle
on 20 Dec 2011
at 22:51
8.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
Sampled from a 22 oz brown bottle this beer poured a bright amber color with a huge foamy orange-white head that left good lacing. The aroma was sweet pineapple, grapefruit and fruit cocktail syrup. The flavor was sweet pineapple, dried papaya, grapefruit, sugar and pine with a sharp hoppy presence that really coated the tongue. The finish was long with sugar, pineapple, grapefruit and papaya lingering. Thick and full bodied. The alcohol was fairly well hidden. Wonderful.
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 Nov 2011
at 18:20
5.2/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 4
Flavor 4
Texture 6
Overall 5
Bomber. "Batch No. 1." Pours a slightly hazy orange--not blonde at all--with a large lacy orange-white head with great retention. Aroma is like moldy oranges, garbage, strong alcohol presence. Taste is bittersweet and boozy with a long bitter finish. It’s too oaky. When I have something oak aged--whether it’s beer or wine--I like the flavor subtle, not over the top nasty like this. Carbonation is medium-high. This beer is a total mess. What were they thinking here? I’ve had worse, I think I can finish this at least, but Sam Adams rarely misfires this badly on this big of a scale. Addendum: beer seemed to mellow out and got more drinkable after it warmed.
Tried
from Can
on 22 Nov 2011
at 17:31
6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Bottle, split with Matts_Property, pours a pale golden with a big white head. Aroma of vanilla, oak and licorice. Flavour of vanilla, oak, slight smoke and licorice. The flavours don't really compliment one another to make a complex profile. Pretty good, though a bit thin and unrefined.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Nov 2011
at 22:47
7.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
24 ounce bottle from Wine & Beer Westpark. Pours a clear amber color with a thin white frothy head. Decent head retention. Aroma of big wood notes, citrus and tropical fruits, grapes and toffee malts. The taste is peppery wood, toffee, caramel, a buttery note, herbal hops, grapes and other mild fruit notes. Medium bodied with a bit of heat. Nice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Nov 2011
at 14:23
7.6/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Pours a clear deep copper color with a huge fluffy white head that shows great retention and a huge amount of lace. 5 stars for appearance! Smell is mostly an earthy piney aroma that I think is Zeus hops, not my favorite hop. Slight hints of candy sugar type malt sweetness as well as some alcohol. Taste is sweet and malty again with that candy sweetness mixed with a sweet fruitiness that reminds me of tropical fruits. The earthy piney hop flavor is in there as well as a touch of ethanol. Medium to full body, moderate level of carbonation with a sweet fruity slightly sticky mouthfeel. I kinda liked this, even better after it warmed a bit. Its well made beer that hardly shows its 11.5% abv, and aside from my dislike of the hop profile I’d love to see how this ages.
Tried
from Can
on 11 Nov 2011
at 21:04
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle. Pours with a clear golden body with a lasting white head. Aromas of tannin, oak, vanilla, flan, light floral and tropical fruit. Flavors were great. Tropical fruit, bread pudding, alcohol and vanilla custard. Rich tropical fruit play with some vanillin. Medium to slightly fuller bodied, highly warming. A lot of fun. Possibly truer to style than it might appear. I actually really liked this one!
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Nov 2011
at 18:39