Once Upon A Time In Manchester No. 2: Barley Wine
Cloudwater Brew Co in Manchester, Greater Manchester, England 🏴
Barley Wine - Barley Series|
Score
7.63
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Classic Heritage Styles From Manchester
Deep malt flavours slowly unfold with each sip, demanding you take the time to appreciate every nuance.
J.W. Lees have brewed Harvest Ale every year for the past 39 years. It's an honour for us to be able to use their house yeast - a culture that's thousands of generations old - to brew our Barleywine.
Turning our hands to the classics is our way of saying thanks to trailblazing breweries for the part they played in the rich history of British brewing.
This barleywine gives aromas of sauvignon blanc, toffee apple esters, with deep sweet cherry cola flavours. A hint of foam banana esters lean into a full bodied strong beer which is full of complexity. It's a thing of beauty.
Deep malt flavours slowly unfold with each sip, demanding you take the time to appreciate every nuance.
J.W. Lees have brewed Harvest Ale every year for the past 39 years. It's an honour for us to be able to use their house yeast - a culture that's thousands of generations old - to brew our Barleywine.
Turning our hands to the classics is our way of saying thanks to trailblazing breweries for the part they played in the rich history of British brewing.
This barleywine gives aromas of sauvignon blanc, toffee apple esters, with deep sweet cherry cola flavours. A hint of foam banana esters lean into a full bodied strong beer which is full of complexity. It's a thing of beauty.
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7.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7.5
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Panda at home, thanks to Kenneth, 22/04/2025.
Chestnut brown topped with a light beige cap that thins to a swirl and retains.
Nose is vinous, figs, sticky toffee, hint of solvents, booze tunes, cake mix.
Taste comprises fruit cake mix, toffee, dates, raisins, brown sugar melt, sultanas, molasses.
Full bodied, light oily feel, semi drying close with a balanced rising boost.
Tidy Barley Wine but far from the top drawer of this style.
Chestnut brown topped with a light beige cap that thins to a swirl and retains.
Nose is vinous, figs, sticky toffee, hint of solvents, booze tunes, cake mix.
Taste comprises fruit cake mix, toffee, dates, raisins, brown sugar melt, sultanas, molasses.
Full bodied, light oily feel, semi drying close with a balanced rising boost.
Tidy Barley Wine but far from the top drawer of this style.
Tried
on 22 Apr 2025
at 21:36
8.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8.5
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
Can from Eltham Wines. Nose is toffee, sultanas, coconut ice, burnt sugars, fudge, caramel. Taste is toffee, sultanas, red apple, caramel, treacle toffee. Rich sweet & exceedingly warming. Top notch barley wine. Most agreeable.
Tried
from Can
from
Eltham Wines
on 19 Apr 2025
at 10:26
8.6/10
—
Appearance 9
Aroma 8.5
Flavor 8.5
Texture 9
Overall 8.5
Can from House Of Trembling Madness. Amber body with a light haze and a thin off-white head. Aroma of green banana, straw snd banana bread. Flavour of dumpling, roasted malt and marmalade. Medium body with a snack with smooth texture. Soft fizz. Sweet and yeasty.
Tried
from Can
at
House Of The Trembling Madness (Stonegate)
on 13 Apr 2025
at 22:08
7.5/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 7
Overall 8
Keg at Cloudwater Enid Street. Slightly opaque amber. Foamy off-white head. Aroma is defo boozy. Big and sweet- dough and fruit with a hint of spice. Flavourwise we also have sweet fruit- marred by underlying veg and then lifted by booze and spice. A chewy if not entirely satisfying Barley Wine. --- Beer merged from original tick of Once Upon A Time In Manchester: Barley Wine on 12 Jun 2025 at 17:57 - Score: Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8. Original review text: Keg at Enid Street. Aroma is sweet and nutty. Some booze. Flavourwise the same. Medium bodied. Soft-fizzy carbonation. Long somewhat astringent finish. Easy going Barley Wine.
Tried
from Draft
at
73 Enid Street (Cloudwater London Taproom)
on 11 Apr 2025
at 16:01
7.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 7.5
Texture 7
Overall 7.5
Pours lightly hazed golden amber with a light tan head. Loads of toffee, caramel, malt, dried fruit. Quite a light and fruity finish and really balances in the boozy hit well. Good stuff.
Tried
from Draft
at
73 Enid Street (Cloudwater London Taproom)
on 09 Apr 2025
at 16:33
7.3/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
26th March 2025
Can. Near clear amber beer, decent pale tan head. Smooth palate, soft and very slightly viscous. Decent fine carbonation. Soft and reasonably rich malt, caramel and creamy toffee. Ripe dried fruits. A fair degree of esters, bubblegum and fruity. It's those estery aspects that make this brew a bit quadish and if my old grey matter serves, that isn't the first time I have said that about a CW Barleywine. Juicy sweet caramel malts. There needs to be something else going on to deliver high drinkability at the point of sale. Might be one to age. A curious barleywine. I hope CW continue their pursuit of this style . They are more than capable of nailing it.
Can. Near clear amber beer, decent pale tan head. Smooth palate, soft and very slightly viscous. Decent fine carbonation. Soft and reasonably rich malt, caramel and creamy toffee. Ripe dried fruits. A fair degree of esters, bubblegum and fruity. It's those estery aspects that make this brew a bit quadish and if my old grey matter serves, that isn't the first time I have said that about a CW Barleywine. Juicy sweet caramel malts. There needs to be something else going on to deliver high drinkability at the point of sale. Might be one to age. A curious barleywine. I hope CW continue their pursuit of this style . They are more than capable of nailing it.
Tried
from Can
on 04 Apr 2025
at 15:54