That’s quite the name for a beer… and what a beer. Susan and I split Left Hand’s Widdershin’s Barleywine (vintage 2007, just came out). I have to say it was more a strong ale than a barleywine. I was really hoping for a barleywine, but got all ale. It pours a light brown color with a nice light tan head (most barleywines are a little red in color). Smells of hops and some slight fruitiness and maybe a little vanilla/oak. The taste was more oaky, vanilla-y and hops and some malt sweetness (caramel malts perhaps?), but none of the barleywine fruitness that I would have expected. There was no taste of alcohol, which was good for this 10% ABV brew.
I had high hopes for this one and it let me down. Maybe it was just me, but it wasn’t much of a barleywine. I am pretty sure they release it every year. Hopefully, next year it won’t be aged in oak.
I’ve gone through 3 of my Wassail Ales from the Woodstock Inn and Brewery now, so I figured I should write about it as promised. The beer is surprisingly strong. No indication on the bottle or 4 pack carton, so I checked BA and nothing there. Finally, I went to the website and it says “usually about 8%”. Ok, that makes sense as to why it seemed strong. You can’t taste the alcohol in this one. The beer pours a brown color with a small head. It smells of spices, though I can’t really make them out. The beer also tastes of these spices, but again, I can’t really make them out. Perhaps there’s a little cinnamon and cloves and maybe some nutmeg. There’s a slight hops aftertaste, but it’s mostly spices, though they’re not so overpowering that it detracts from the beer.
I liked this one. I like this brewery. Susan and I stayed there a couple years ago and really liked the place. The rooms are fantastic and the restaurant (the Clement Room) is amazing. The brewpub is average pub fare and average quality. I had their maple porter while we were there and loved it. It’s worth checking out if you’re ever up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
Today I had McGovern’s Oatmeal Stout from Belfast Bay. I wrote up a nice full review on Beer Advocate (click on the first link in this post), so you can read it there. But here’s a shortened version.
The beer poured a nice thick black color with a nice dark tan head. However, the head was huge (like half the glass) and the beer wasn’t too warm, nor did I pour it too hard. There were nice roasted malt scents and some slight burnt coffee aromas coming from it. Very nice. The beauty is in the taste. I had to read a review to figure out what I was tasting (or at least what one of the tastes was). Roasted malts dominated the taste, but some coffee and chocolate notes were present. The taste I couldn’t figure out was toffee. That was present for the first half and replaced by the chocolate in the second half. It felt a bit thinner than it looked and was a little overly carbonated. Other than the negatives, which were easy to overlook, the beer is awesome. I recommend this if you’re a fan of stouts and you can find it.
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