CS 9 Barleywine

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Permalink Reply by DP on June 9, 2013 at 8:59am

My first ever proper review of a beer and I have to say it's quite beneficial to go through the process of stopping to try to identify individual aspects. Here goes:

Appearance

Ruby red with a sparse head that fades quickly. Small amounts of lacing remain. Almost crystal clear. 

Aroma

Rich toffee with hints of banana. Slightly phenolic but not in an undesirable way.

Flavour

Well balanced bitterness. Complex flavours. I really struggled to put a name to them but they worked well together.

Mouthfeel

Smooth with light carbonation. Clean, dry finish.

Overall

Deceptively easy to drink. It's tasting great now and will only get better and more complex with age. I'd suggest leaving this for half a year or more if you can. As a barleywine I reckon this works a lot better than the all-MO ones we brewed a couple of years ago and that's mostly down to the complexity of flavour; the single malt ones had fantastic caramel but that was about it. I'm going to steal this recipe and give it a go myself!

Permalink Reply by Stu H on June 15, 2013 at 9:15pm

Appearance: Pours clear dark amber. Pale off-white head, which lingered around the glass a while.Aroma: Some mild sweet toffee notes, a little perfume.

Flavour: Very sweet toffee at the start, with a whack of bitterness at the end. Very black and white on the palette.

Mouthfeel: I find most of the barleywines I brew to be too syrupy, but this wasn't at all. Nice carbonation.

Overall: Very nice barleywine - didn't taste too young to me at all. Thanks for sharing!

Permalink Reply by Luke Davey on June 20, 2013 at 8:24pm

Appearance: Dark red amber, fine white head that quickly dissipates, very clear, and negligible sediment. 

Nose: Biscuitty and malty.

Taste: A very smooth malty hit initially followed by some resin notes and a lasting bitterness. 

Mouthfeel: Smooth heavy malts, well carbonated, not too dry.

Overall: This is the first barleywine I've tried, and was much appreciated with the cold weather we've been experiencing.  Cheers for this one Tom.