Church Brew Works Oak Aged Barley Wine

I stopped in to Church Brew Works during Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week to sign paperwork for our rehearsal dinner. While there, I ordered a glass of the Oak Aged Barley Wine. The beer pours a dark brown color with a thin filmy beige head. Bubbles collected on the side of the glass. The aroma consists of raisin, fig, malts, chocolate, caramel. The taste is dry with a dark chocolate base and plenty of raisin, fig, and dark fruits. Oak shines through and dries out the mouth with bourbon accents and a hint of cherry. The alcohol burn lingers and is quite warming. The alcohol content is 9.5% ABV. I’d say this was a rather delicious barleywine with great oak and bourbon flavors. I’ve had their regular barley wine before, and the oak aged version really stepped it up a notch with a nice smoothness, even though it does burn on the way down.

New Glarus Thumbprint Barley Wine

My buddy Bob gave me a bottle of New Glarus Thumbprint Barley Wine to try. The beer pours an amber color with a frothy white head that is about a finger’s width. The aroma consists of raisin, orange, fig, caramel, pepper, and lemon. The taste is fruit forward with orange, lemon, and fig with a bold caramel base. A spicy pepper finish comes out with a warming alcohol burn on the finish. The alcohol content is 12.0% ABV. I liked how fruity this beer was, and the nice warming alcohol burn really helped the soul.

21st Amendment Lower Da Boom

I ordered a glass of 21st Amendment Lower Da Boom from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a dark amber color with a foamy beige head. The aroma consists of caramel, cherry, malts, and chocolate. The taste is smooth and malty and very caramel forward. There are accents of chocolate, raisin, and a light grassy hop accent mixed in with a dry toasted malt finish. The alcohol content is 10.5% ABV. This was a peppery and spicy barleywine that took the tongue for a ride. However, the caramel profile of it is very overpowering and dominates the other flavors, leading somewhat to its demise.

Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws Barley Wine Style Ale

I received a bottle of Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws Barley Wine Style Ale from Doug Hanson. The beer pours a raisin-amber color with a lofty, frothy, and creamy thick beige colored head. Some lacing is left on the glass, and the yeast flakes are abundant and float in the beer. The aroma consists of raisins, honey, pine hops, caramel, and fig. The taste is smooth and nicely sweet with caramel, fig, raisin, date, and some molasses. Balancing the sweetness is a nice spicy pine hop flavor with a hint of an alcohol burn. The finish brings out some honey and just the touch of sweetness the beer needs to finish. The alcohol content is 11.0% ABV. This is one of the better barleywines that I have ever had with a great sweetness. I feel that the honey really made the beer, as it wasn’t too raisin-y and just sweet enough.

Uinta Crooked Line Cockeyed Cooper Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine Ale

My buddy Ed brought me up a bottle of Uinta Crooked Line Cockeyed Cooper Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine Ale from his trip to Atlanta. The beer pours a dark reddish-brown color with a frothy beige colored head that leaves a bit of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of raisin, fig, bourbon, oak, orange, and vanilla. The taste is smooth and sweet at first with a raisin and fig profile before drying off rather rapidly. The dryness is accompanied with bourbon, oak, pepper, and hints of grass. The finish has some vanilla sweetness with hints of orange as well. The alcohol content is 11.1% ABV. I feel like without the bourbon barrels, this was a solid barleywine, but with the addition of the barrels, it takes off to another dimension. The bourbon and oak dryness are great, and the hint of orange really rounds out the flavor.

Alaskan Barley Wine

I picked up a bottle of Alaskan Barley Wine in California and shipped it home to myself to review. The beer pours a dark amber color with a thin frothy tan head. The aroma is strong and consists of raisin, fig, lots of molasses, malts, and caramel. The taste is smooth at first before a strong sweet bite on the sides of the mouth. There are flavors of raisin, molasses, fig, sweet malts, tea, and caramel. There is a dry, weedy hop flavor that comes out on the finish. The after taste leaves some tea and caramel on the tongue. The alcohol content is 10.7% ABV. This is up there with one of the better Barley Wines I have had, save for Flying Mouflan. It’s not quite as hoppy as Flying Mouflan, but it is still well balanced and nicely spiced.

Mill Street Barley Wine 2010

I picked up a bottle of Mill Street Barley Wine 2010, Batch Number 10-16-20, while I was in Niagara Falls and looking for craft beer. The beer pours a dark amber color with a think filmy off-white head. The aroma consists of sweet malts with fig, raisins, and hints of orange. The taste is smooth yet strong and biting on the tongue. There is a large amount of sweetness in this beer, akin to maple syrup, with lots of malts, fig, and raisins. The finish has a little carbonation bite to it and puckers the back of the tongue. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. While I did enjoy the Mill Street Barley Wine, I would put it in the somewhat too sweet category. There wasn't a lot of hop balance to the beer and I think that is due to the Canadian love of maple syrup. Still, this is a beer worth trying if you are in Canada.

Stoudt's Old Abominable Barley Wine Ale

I picked up a bottle of Stoudt's Old Abominable Barley Wine Ale from the brewery on my way home from working in Reading one day. The beer pours a dark amber color with a foamy tan head. The aroma consists of fig and toffee with a light hint of pine. The taste is is sweet with caramel and toffee. The beer finishes dry from the alcohol and pine hops. There is also a bit of fig and apricot and a bit of oak on the outside of the mouth. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. Stoudt's has provided a fantastic barley wine that could not be better. This barley wine fit the style perfectly, and the oak accents round out the beer nicely.