On tap at brewpub. It pours a striking crystal clear deep copper with lasting ring of white foam. The aroma is malty sweet with a hint of dark fruit and decent amount of smokiness. The taste begins with thick chewy malt sweetness with a quick twang of dark fruity esters. The mild prunes, cherries and plums mix with an up welling of sweet caramel candy maltiness. It gets a very brief shot of breadiness that rolls over and fades into the finish. The hops hit about midway and try to overcome the chewy sweet caramelized maltiness with a sweet late addition pine hop and spice hop sweetness. The hops become only moderately bitter into the finish. None of the flavors are too bold or two bright but rather melded and smooth. The mild smokiness does just manage to show itself into the finish. For a barleywine it comes up short on hops for an American version and isn’t fruity or malty or caramely enough for an English version. Its somewhere in between.

On tap @ the Diamond Knot brewpub. This one has been a long time favorite of mine that I finally get a chance to sit down and rate it. It pours a clear deep gold with copper core and long lasting ring of white foam. The aroma is light with mild sweet grapefruit hops and syrupy lightly roasted malts. The taste starts off chewy with rich lightly roasted malts. Some sweet late addition grapefruit hoppiness wells up creating a mild sweet orange juice sensation. That doesn’t last long as the grapefruit hop bitterness builds into the finish. Very smooth hoppy beer that is dangerously drinkable. Neither a hop bomb or a malt bomb but manages to stay pretty well balanced with a lean toward hops. A must try if you are in the area.

On tap at the brewpub. Pours a clear deep gold with white head and decent lacing. The aroma is mild with some grapefruit hops and mild malt sweetness. The flavor begins with a quick hit of sweet and caramelized malts before a bolt of grapefruit hop bitterness and faint pine hop bitterness show up in force. Soon after the grapefruit hops turn into sweet citrusy hop flavor that mix very well with the under current of lightly roasted malt sweetness. It ends with a reminder of how the hops were introduced in the beginning of the experience with grapefruit bitterness.

On tap at the brewpub. It pours very dark with long lasting mocha head and thick sheet lacing. I had to sip this one before checking the aroma because it overcame my will. I wasn’t expecting the onslaught of creamy smooth maltiness this beer dished out. I get burnt malts that turn very roasty for a while before a deep dark chocolate not takes over. As the chocolate hits so does a mild sweetness with faint vanilla and licorice. The flavor notes at this point play against each other nicely. Then a mild malt astringency is noticed too. It is a bit thin but an exceptional session offering. The aroma is mildly roasty, burnt and chocolaty.