Sweet Evil Barley Wine - Hoppin' Frog Brewery

ONUMello

Ohio

3.13/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

22oz bottle poured into a pint glass
A: Transparent amber color with a one-finger head that slowly settles, light carbonation
S: Sweet, like everyone else has said. Fruit cocktail covered in caramel
T: Also cloyingly sweet - again I'm getting canned fruit cocktail with maple syrup and toffee
M: Somewhat thick, cloying. Think toasted simple syrup
O: This needs hops in a very bad way. And more fermentation time to lower the amount of sugar. I honestly could only finish half the bottle.

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2013 03:52:00 | More by ONUMello

kawilliams81

Illinois

3.68/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Reviewed from notes. Poured from a 22 oz bottle into a 8 oz snifter.

A- pours copper color with a 1 finger tan head. Small bubbles of lacing on the glass.

S- sweet caramel, brown sugar and dark fruits

T- sweet toffee and caramel, brown sugar, dark fruits

M- medium body and carbonation. Thick, syrupy with a smooth finish

O- very sweet Barleywine. Almost no bitterness, and more doppelbock like.

Serving type: bottle

03-09-2013 03:50:16 | More by kawilliams81

Gobzilla

California

3.6/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: poured dark brown in color with pale dark orangish highlights and almost no head that virtually left no lacing sticking to the glass.

S: like the label reads there was definitely lots of sweetness in the aroma consisting with a little caramel, dark fruits such as prunes and raisins. Burnt sugar an top of cane sugar, mabybe a little toffee coming through and signs of booze.

T: plenty of burnt sugar caramel sweetness was leading this sweet bomb alongside prune plum raisin dark fruits, a littel toffee undertones, a touch of cane sugar, mild booze and muted brown sugar as well.

M: the body was medium to full in body with a low amount of carbonation which had sugary, mild dark fruity, slightly boozy and very sweet finish.

O: just a decent barelywine to me and was just too sweet for my liking. It was still worth trying, not bad by any means.

Serving type: bottle

11-29-2012 20:14:12 | More by Gobzilla

Treebs

Illinois

2.28/5  rDev -28.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

22 oz. bottle served in a New Belgium globe.

A: Pours dark amber color with a thin light tan head forming on the pour. It recedes quickly to a thin ring. No lace is left behind.

S: Very sweet. Sugar glazed prunes are right up front. Caramel with a burnt sugar bitterness. A little booze with a sweet, fruity yeast component as well.

T: Wow, this is like drinking sugar dipped sugar, which is glazed in sugar. It's got an intense saccharine flavor with dark fruity flavor. Sweet roll malts with a odd fruity juice flavor as well.

M: Syrupy body with a medium low carbonation level. Very hard to get down.

O: Hard to put down and immensely sweet. I'm definitely not a fan at this time.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2012 01:21:05 | More by Treebs

maximum12

Minnesota

3.1/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Thanks again to Torgo for opening yet another Hoppin' Frog bottle I probably wouldn't have been able to try otherwise. 22 oz. bottle.

Pour is flatflatflat, orange; no carbonation is evident. Smells - holy crap, like you stuck your head into a Krispy Kreme donut. For an hour. Sweetsweetsweet.

Sweet Evil can't be accused of trying to pull the wool over a buyer's eyes, since it's right there in the title. Saccharine welded onto apple juice, then given a cane sugar booster shot, then with more sugar added. Maybe caramel? No, that's just more sugar. Flatness means it's almost wine-like. A few ounces is more than enough.

Did I mention this was sweet? Overwhelming. Decent enough, but for someone without a sweet tooth (& I have the cavities to prove it), this would be torture.

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2012 01:49:24 | More by maximum12

Goblinmunkey7

Massachusetts

3.15/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Appearance: Clear amber. Some nice deep gold hues. No head. Tiny white collar. Minimal carbonation. Still. Looks on point.

Smell: Incredibly sweet. Toasted edge mingles with caramel, toffee, vanilla, and some touches of something that reminds me of oak. So very sweet. Caramel malts. Almost white wine level of sweetness. Some deep fruitiness. Apples, grapes, and even some mealy pear. Butterscotch. Some underlying spiciness from the Belgian yeast. Touches of bubblegum.

Taste: Incredibly sweet. Loads of butterscotch, caramel and English toffee. Vanilla and touches of oak. Caramelized biscuity malts. Caramel malts. Caramel candy. Cooked malts. Bananas, pears, apples. Crazy malt aggression. No hops to speak of. Dessert. Crazy levels of vanilla and butterscotch. Almost like a brûlée. Bubblegum and ripe banana.

Mouthfeel: Slick and pushes full for the body. Almost no carbonation. Smooth.

Overall: Big Evil does not approve of Sweet Evil.

The Undertaker does not approve of the Evil moniker. Super sweet. Incredibly sweet. Nice depth, but so sweet it's distracting.

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2012 22:38:28 | More by Goblinmunkey7

angrybabboon

Rhode Island

3.05/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Cheers to Goblinmunkey7 for sharing this. At the time of this review, there are only 7 other reviews. Weird.

Consumed 10/12/12

Appearance: Dark orange with a some red highlights - remarkable clarity - small white head, leaves a nice array of spots

Smell: Weird - maybe it's just the name of this beer priming me, but this smells sweet - like, sugary candy - spicy Belgian yeast - sugary bread with powdered sugar - sweet jam - did I mention this is sweet? Sweet, sweet, booze

Taste: Sugar and booze - malty, but in a very sweet way - sweet bread sprinkled with sugar - so, so sweet - caramel, sugary candy - Belgian yeast with some sugary banana and sugary bubblegum - light fruits and more sugar - some musty British notes

Mouthfeel: On the heavy side of medium, oily, syrupy, with booze

Overall: Would you like some beer with your sugar?

Sweet Evil. This is one of the most accurate names for a beer ever. I've eaten sugar packets that are less sweet than this beer. It's absurd. Interesting, but not great.

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2012 22:31:52 | More by angrybabboon

matttttYCE

Arizona

3.35/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pour is very viscous, almost like a big stout, but this is a hazy deep copper hued barleywine. Head is small, maybe half a finger. Lacing is light, but present. Holy sweetness, Batman was this one aptly named. Tons of candi sugar, molasses, toffee, dark fruits, grape and vinous notes, almost jam-like qualities, along with Belgian yeast and maple notes. Sweet syrupy sugary taste all the way. Like candied dark fruits in liquid form, mixed with Belgian yeast, molasses, and vinous qualities, slight vanilla extract, and with some more sugar thrown in for hell of it. The mouthfeel is overtaken by a syrupy, sticky body and consistency. The carbonation is low and the finish is still very sweet.

I can't lie, the nose had me excited about this one but the taste left me feeling like this one is rather lackluster. I'm still not sure whether the big mouthfeel helped or hurt this one, but I gave it a little better than average rating. That would be the overall too, I suppose - A little better than average, but way too sweet in my book. Thanks to Ryan for this to sample.

Serving type: bottle

10-01-2012 06:00:18 | More by matttttYCE

menkros

Illinois

4.53/5  rDev +42.5%
look: 3 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

It pours a golden color. The smell is like liquid brown sugar. The taste is a perfectly sweet barley wine. I heart it so much. his beer is the non-barrel-aged version of Naked Evil, and you don’t see the barrel-aged version of a beer released first too often. The beer is a clear dark copper-amber color with a thin off-white head that dissipates quickly to an outer ring. Spotty lacing. Aroma of sweet malt, caramel and fruit. Medium to full body with a very sweet caramel malt flavor along with flavors of fruity yeast and hops. The finish is nearly cloying in its sweetness and leaves a lingering toffee and malt aftertaste.

Serving type: bottle

09-28-2012 03:46:01 | More by menkros

Etan

Illinois

3.2/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

22oz bottle into a tulip.

A: Pours a beautiful light amber with a small white head.

S: Extremely vinous with notes of sticky grape, sugary maple, cidery hop oil.

T: Overwhelmingly sweet esters - dried apricot, prune and grape, molasses, cooked sugar, vanilla, apple juice.

M: Medium-bodied, slight carbonation, a little syrupy.

O: I like sweet barleywines, and this is still too much. It's amazing that putting this stuff into a barrel yielded Naked Evil. Unbarreled, this beer isn't disgusting, but it's barely drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

09-05-2012 03:16:17 | More by Etan

Vonerichs

Illinois

3.28/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Clear copper body with a flat appearance. There was no head at all.

Smells like a loaf of bread with some kind of sugar glaze. More sugar, dates, sugar, raisin, sugar.

Holy crap it's sweet. Sugar, dark fruit, brown sugar, bread. Doesn't play well with me.

Mouthfeel is sticky and syrupy.

Well, it lives up to its name but I'm not convinced that's a good thing. It's cloyingly sweet and bready with no bitterness to cut it.

Serving type: bottle

09-05-2012 00:21:35 | More by Vonerichs

MasterSki

Illinois

3.35/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Bottle shared by Chris (spycow). Served in a Hill Farmstead tulip.

A - White foam settles to a thin collar and minimal lace. Transparent dark orange-red body.

S - Bread, red fruits, Belgian yeast, marmalade, some lightly burnt sugars. Somewhat cloying. Seems boozier than the listed 8.8% too.

T - The taste is a bit better, as it's less cloying. However there is a mild vomit note mixed in with the sugary malts - not sure if it's phenolic yeast or some English hops. In any case, it dissipates a bit as the beer warms up.

M - Medium-full body, with lower carbonation and a sticky texture to it. Some warming alcohol presence, but not inappropriate for the style.

D - This is way to sweet to drink in even modest quantities. I'm also surprised the ABV is only 8.8%, as that means Naked Evil picks up 2.5% from the whiskey barrels. In any case, Naked Evil is a lot better and I'd recommend spending your money on that instead.

Serving type: bottle

08-29-2012 17:58:30 | More by MasterSki

wvsabbath

West Virginia

3.23/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Serving Type - 22oz bottle

Appearance - Tanish brown with a ruby red tint. 1/4 inch head with very little lacing.

Smell - Malts, belgian yeasts, caramel/toffee. Dark fruits, spices, has a roasty aroma along with some mollasses and brown sugars.

Taste - As expected, very sweet and sugary. Loads of yeasts, and sugar coated fruits. Malts are very caramel/toffee and sweet. Alcohol is buried under the sweetness. Not much else can be said about this.

Mouthfeel - Tounge gets nailed with sweetness and fruits. Palate gets sugars, malts and fruits. The finish is very light, and the aftertaste is sweet and dry.

Overall - Its straight up sugary with no balance. Very forgetble taste fresh. Now the label says to age this one for complexity and depth of flavor. I bought another bottle, going to cellar it for atleast a year to see what it will do cause it tastes like it needs time to mature. DO NOT DRINK THIS FRESH! I will update this review after i drink the aged bottle.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2012 22:22:23 | More by wvsabbath

ChadQuest

Illinois

2.98/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Adding my first beer to the BA database, destiny would have it to be a barleywine. I put the availability as rotating only because BA naked evil has been released yearly twice now, i have no information on the future releases of this.

The color is a medium gold faded to amber, lighter then i expected for a barleywine, but then again this is not a big dense high alcohol beer at 8.8%.

Nose is sugary and fruity. The Belgian yeasts are really prominent right now fresh. Alcohol is mild but appreciated on the nose, one of the reasons i like these beers fresh is i hope for a warming touch. Dark fruits delivered from the various yeast strains.

Of everything i listed on the nose the sweetness really comes out fighting the strongest on the palate, fruits coated in sugar. strawberries dipped in sugar, raisins covered in sugar, et cetera. The alcohol is more subtle here mingled with a toffee side, and sweet fruits, not even that dark of fruits, just sweet fruits overall, play the biggest role. This one could be cloying for a lot of people, and it is borderline for me.

The mouthfeel is rather syrupy and sticky, lingers around a long time. It loves you long time.

I might grab a bottle or two to forget for a few years, but not any to drink in the next 2 years. In short it is simply too sweet right now.

Serving type: bottle

08-01-2012 04:45:50 | More by ChadQuest