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Tonight (and one other night, I really don’t remember since I had like 3 glasses of 10+% ABV beers tonight) I had Smuttynose’s Barleywine Style Ale from their Big Beer Series.  I also finished Susan’s Flying Dog Horn Dog Barleywine Style Ale (which I had myself some other night this week and didn’t write about).

I’ll start with the Smuttynose, an American Barleywine.  This is a 22 oz. bomber, label says it’s bottle conditioned in 2007 (I am 99.9% it’s late in the year).  It pours a copper color with a slight hint of red in it.  There’s a small creamy white head that disappears somewhat quickly.   Smell is immediate alcohol followed by a malty sweetness, though the alcohol dominates.  The same goes for the taste, though towards the end of the bottle (which could be because I was nicely buzzed) the malty sweetness comes out more.  There is a lot of alcoholic warming quality to this beer and a lot of alcohol flavor.  The mouthfeel is nice and full bodied and thick.  There’s a slight hint of hops to balance out the flavor, but the alcohol really dominates with this one.  I think I will buy another bottle to age for a year.  I have a feeling there will be a lot more flavors coming through next winter than I was able to notice tonight.  The alcohol should diminish a bit and I should be left with a nice flavorful barleywine.

The Flying Dog is an English-style Barleywine.  This generally means it’s more subdued in flavor, or rather the hops are not as pronounced.  The beer pours an awesome ruby red color with almost no head.  Smells of fruitiness and malty sweetness.  The alcohol in this one is undetectable (until you start to feel it).  Taste is immediate sweetness followed by some slight hops and a nice fruity quality.  This is a very drinkable beer for a 10.5% ABV brew.  I would go out on a limb and call this one of my favorite barleywines (Great Divide’s Old Ruffian is still my favorite).  Susan liked this one so much when I had it earlier in the week that she made me buy another bottle for her (which I had to finish tonight, putting me way over the top since I drank the whole bomber of the Smuttynose, which was 10% ABV).

I think it’s safe to say that Barleywine is my favorite style of beer (whether American or English).  I just can’t seem to get enough of them.  I used to think it was the good old IPA, but now I’m not so sure.  I think I just like beer.  Now I need to get some sleep… I’m wasted, and beat from the gym.