Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6
Not really an Imperial IPA, more of an American Strong, as are most Imperial Reds. Brown, nice lasting tan head. Light citrus hop nose. Watery start, mild malt mid, medium strength lasting hop bitterness with medium alcohol heat. Lacks malt for body and balance. Another disappointment from this brewer, no matter what the style is supposed to be
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Bottle, 12%. Refreshing grassy hop aroma. Clear dark brown colour, some red. Very small tan head. Sweet teaish flavour, quite caramelly. Rather thin mouthfeel considering ABV. Nice enough, but I guess I expected more from a beer of this strength.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Courtesy of Degarth. Pours black with thin mocha head. The aroma is mild with roastiness rolling into burnt malts pushing into an ashy region. The taste is smooth and blended and begins almost mildly as it heads toward midway for bolder brasher notes. It starts mildly roasty and becoming rich chocolate and then bold burnt malts. The flavor grows brighter into the finish. This beer has a light sensation for the style but very very tasty.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 7
Bottle. Berry (cherry), sirup and honey aroma. Red brown, creamy brown head. Chocolate, roast and berry flavours. Relatively light body for the strength - fairly dangerous - the doppelbock of baleywines.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
A dark golden orange ale with a thin big bubbled head. A pleasant fragrant hops with meaty notes, mint, fresh. In mouth, a good balance of biscuit malt and floral hops, lingering pleasantly, not over the top, light berry notes. Nice offering from BC. Bieropholie.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 2 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 2.5
Bottle, Brewery Creek
Light gold with a gentle sparkle. Somewhat appley nose with the standard Merridales high alcohols. Maybe some malt base in there somewhere, but it’s definitely obscured. Tastes disjointed. The beer isn’t well-suited...it’s not a hoppy beer really but I think it’s too hoppy for this mix. There’s just enough hops to clash. Throw in the high alcohols and you’ve got some really astrigent ick that you really have to choke back. Chug fast, too - you don’t want to let it get warm.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bomber, Brewery Creek
I wanted to knock an appearance point off for the bogus cyrillic on the label which is both childish and predictable (and a pet peeve of mine). However, this just looks great. It pours thick, with a nice rich head and near black body. And this was in a plastic cup at the hotel room. Granted, the sun was shining through the window, and yes it is strange to bring BC beer to Seattle, but I needed ’shine to try this. Point is, if it looked that good in a shitty plastic cup imagine how good it would look in a nice, deep chalice.
Deep chocolate notes in the aroma. The body starts thick, but gets thin in the finish. Flavours are basic but good - chocolate, roast, and hints of nuts.
All in all, the high notes were nothing special except in how well they came across - clean, bright and flavoursome. The thinness in the finish was disappointing, but not unexpected from Phillips. A thicker, more robust finish would have really elevated this beer. Incidentally, this goes really, really well with brownies.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Black, with thick lasting brown head. Nose is dry roast,brown sugar and alcohol. Thick and rich, dry mocha and cocoa, lasting bitter finish. Alcohol fairly well masked Nice effort
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Burgundy-brown colour. Can I give bonus appearance for mispelling "bierre" on the label and getting away with it? Rich nose of singed cherries, demerara, Havana Club 7yo, dark chocolate and pho broth. Mellow flavour melds toffee, lots of alcohol and some dark fruit notes, but nothing so bright as in the nose. Body is a bit thin for the size, with a slickness that gets more pronounced as it warms...an unpleasant reminder of the bad part of Tibetan butter tea. OK, but most barley wines hit higher high notes than any this has to offer.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
The most mellow barleywine I have ever had. That being said, also one of the more underflavored as well. Deep brown, small tan head. Brown sugar malt nose. Sweet syrupy malt profile, well masked alcohol, hints of dark fruit. Very light finishing hops. Nothnig wrong with this, just not exciting. I drink quickly and get buzzed quickly, I should have gotten buzzed from this, but I didn’t, so I seriously doubt this is anywhere near 12%