7.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Hazy amber color. Nutty aroma (peanuts and hazelnuts), with a touch of vegetables, then caramel and hops. Medium body, with a dry toffee flavor, oily hops, some pleasant sweetness, a bit resiny and fruity. The final is well resiny and bitter. Good and quite powerful, but somehow chaotic.
Tried
on 13 Jan 2008
at 09:49
6.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Rerate, 10/8/10, from the post-infection days, so this one is certainly due for rerating. 12 ounce bottle from Whole Foods Market, Charlottesville, VA. Pours a dark brown color with a medium sized brown frothy head. Decent head retention and lacing. Aroma of roasted malts, caramel and smoke. The taste is chocolate, roasted malts, oats and a bit of smoke and coffee in the finish. Very mild hops. Medium bodied. Pretty good beer. 7/4/8/4/15/3.8
Old Rating 1/7/08, 5/3/6/4/12/3.0. Bottle. Pours nearly-jet black with thin head. Roasty, nutty aroma. Very strong taste of caramel. A little too sour, but not bad.
Old Rating 1/7/08, 5/3/6/4/12/3.0. Bottle. Pours nearly-jet black with thin head. Roasty, nutty aroma. Very strong taste of caramel. A little too sour, but not bad.
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 Jan 2008
at 19:51
8.6/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
22 oz bomber. #536 out of 2007. This beer was excellent! Pours a pitch black, with a dark brown medium head. Aroma is sweet, roasted, with hints of chocolate and both regular and brown sugar. The flavor is creamy, chocolates, with roasted malts, and a strong caramel taste (did I mention the chocolate?). The alcohol was hidden until I started to notice my head was a little light after finishing the bottle. Quite a fine pick here.
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 Jan 2008
at 01:32
6.1/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Rerate... old rating was clearly infected. 5/4/3/2/7/2.1. This one, brown pour, clear, medium head, good head retention and lacing. Aroma of caramel and toffee with faint off-notes. Taste is chocolate, caramel, toffee, a bit of a chalky note. Fairly strong bitter leafy hop notes. Medium bodied. Past its prime, but fortunately devoid of the horrific infection notes of before. There have been two VA breweries who had very bad infection issues but have taken steps to fix them successfully. It always makes me happy when I can increase the score of a Virginia beer.
Tried
from Can
on 06 Jan 2008
at 22:48
5.2/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 6
Flavor 4
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottle #344 of 2007. Pours muddy brown with a thick brown head. Great lacing. Malty aroma with some tropical fruits. Very heavy taste, sharing some characteristics with some of the same brewery’s barleywines. Hop taste is indeed overwhelming.
Tried
from Bottle
on 03 Jan 2008
at 22:13
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle #1939 of 2007. Pours nearly absolute black with a thin dark brown head. Aroma of brown sugar, vanilla and smoke. Strong taste of brown sugar and coffee, with a smooth finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 Jan 2008
at 21:09
6.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle #838 of 2007. Part 5 of 5 of my barleywine-fest, and my 100th overall rating. Yippee! Pours a muddy brown, almost like mud, with a thin head that does not last. Good lacing. Mild aroma, heavy with butterscotch. Taste is more of same. Hops are a little too straightforward at first, but mellow out as the beer warms.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Dec 2007
at 21:28
6.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
First rating 12/29/07: Bottle #995 of 2007. Part 4 of 5 of my barleywine-fest, and also my 99th beer rating. This was an attempt at a barleywine that failed (the successful attempt turned into the Grand Illumination ale). Still, this failure turned out to be a fine brew on its own. Pours mahogany with a bubbly tan head. Aroma of brown sugar, raisins and lemon. The taste is sour and very hoppy, but balanced at the end by coffee and toffee tastes. Hoppiness definitely mellows as it warms. (3.3) Rerate: 4/6/08... Bottle 994 of 2007. Pours a burgundy color with a medium sized frothy head. Aroma is raisins, brown sugar, alcohol. Taste is major hops, brown sugar, alcohol, dark fruits. (3.2)
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Dec 2007
at 20:59
5.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 6.5
From Skyview. An acidic aroma and acidic flavor. Prominent unprocessed grain flavor, barley, and some hops. Gold color, dry, and fairly simple. Light on the palate.
Tried
on 18 Dec 2007
at 13:50
7/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
12 oz. bottle from mj. Pour is a clear golden red with a nice off-white head. Aroma of wet, piney hops and some semi-sweet malt (baking chocolate?). Taste is more of the piney hops throughout, with a nice malt backbone and a dry, bitter piney hop finish. Not terribly complex, but quite enjoyable. Thanks Mike!
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Nov 2007
at 09:37