Highway To Ale Barleywine - Beer Valley Brewing Co.

jdklks

Nevada

3.6/5  rDev +5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

a nice looking barleywine. a deep, dark orangeish-brown body with a thin white/tan head leaving a ring around the surface. very good smell. citrus fruit (orange and grapefruit) hoppiness mixed with sweet brown sugary malts and the perfect touch of alcohol.

im blown away by the difference from smell to taste. the taste is much more roasty and bitter than the sweetness of the smell suggested. it starts off very sweet, but gives way to a big-time hop presence and tons of roasted malts. very dry and lots of caramel and alcohol in the finish/aftertaste. the hops linger for longer than expected too, and leave you with a sense of grapefruit bitterness. a very average barleywine. subtle and mild, which for the style equates to slightly dull.

the mouthfeel is a little too light and slightly over-carbonated. also, as previously mentioned, the beer is very dry on the palate.

Serving type: bottle

10-14-2009 05:03:07 | More by jdklks

XnFM

California

2.75/5  rDev -19.8%

04-19-2013 05:41:59 | More by XnFM

Fatehunter

Oregon

3.5/5  rDev +2%
look: 5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.25

Two fingers of head on a hazy, orange/straw colored body.
The smell is lemon and barley.
The taste has a strong alcohol flavor, moderate lemon and grapefruit bitterness with a malt backbone but not really showing up strong.
The texture is smooth with moderate carbonation.
A nice barleywine.

Serving type: bottle

03-22-2013 23:34:05 | More by Fatehunter

NWer

Washington

4.11/5  rDev +19.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Picked it up over a year ago on one of my many road trips to Oregon. Forgot about it in back of beer fridge until now.
Poured bronze colored almost flat into my HotD tulip Small ring of foam around edge.
Smells boozy. Aroma fills the glass.
Slightly sweet up front. Malt forward. Boozy. Sips like brandy.
Very enjoyable. I liked it a lot. Will keep this one in mind.

Serving type: bottle

03-08-2013 02:58:26 | More by NWer

jmccraney

Washington

3.75/5  rDev +9.3%

10-06-2012 04:40:09 | More by jmccraney

beerpadawan

California

3.25/5  rDev -5.2%

08-26-2012 22:57:33 | More by beerpadawan

t0rin0

California

3.25/5  rDev -5.2%

08-21-2012 21:28:26 | More by t0rin0

harrymel

Washington

2.25/5  rDev -34.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

bottled unk

Pours copper with off white etched foam. Smells of toffee, nougat, alcohol, sweet grains, some resinous hops and pine in here too. Some vitamin smells in the nose as well. Sweet and alcoholic flavor. The alcohols are harsh and there is a profound sweetness, but as I roll over the entire mouth, there comes out an aspirin bitterness. Mouthfeel is thin with low carb and a dry finish. I remember being at a tasting for Beer Valley a year or so ago and they mentioned aging this beer a full year before release (as a standard) - this did not help so far as I can tell.

Serving type: bottle

08-10-2012 06:16:20 | More by harrymel

RoryOMoore

New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev +2%

06-05-2012 04:59:55 | More by RoryOMoore

redliner8

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev +9.3%

05-09-2012 14:30:15 | More by redliner8

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

3.85/5  rDev +12.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Picked up this beat to hell bottle and immediately thought: damn, this thing can't be fresh. Which...works! Since it's a barleywine and all. My intuition paid off.

Smooth profile on this one. At first it's a bit of that chalky malty thing. But overall it's pretty smooth and nice. But I think that most of this beer's strong points are ones that were brought about with a fair amount of age. Which only came as it was a neglected beer in a cooler. What works though.

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2012 05:33:33 | More by RblWthACoz

gkatsoris

Pennsylvania

4.05/5  rDev +18.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A: Clear copperish, with a red hue when held up to the light.. No bubbles at all. No head.

S: Malty and raisins. Caramel. Raw dough.

T: Caramel at first, then bittery, then morphs into the malts, then the raisins, finishes with vanilla. Butterscotch. Marshmallow.

M: Great; period. Thick and chewy. Full. Great coat left on the tongue.

O: Not sure this has been rated so low. This is a damn fine barleywine!!!

Thanks Beership.com

Serving type: bottle

05-06-2012 01:21:38 | More by gkatsoris

djaeon

California

2/5  rDev -41.7%

01-22-2012 21:32:55 | More by djaeon

Travisnin

Idaho

4/5  rDev +16.6%

11-14-2011 16:08:45 | More by Travisnin

beertunes

Washington

3.63/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into 10oz glass. Poured a light (for the style) amber/gold with just a thin cap of off-white head that low retention and moderate lacing.

The aroma was fairly typical, the expected rich malts with some hops (this from BV after all) tingling in the background. On the tongue, this was a fairly typical example of the style. Full malts, noticeable alcohol and the hops that these guys are for noted for.

The body was full, rich and smooth. Drinkability was good for the style. Overall, another fine brew from from the guys out in boonies of Ontario, OR. Worth trying when you see it.

Serving type: bottle

05-29-2011 07:53:23 | More by beertunes

mactrail

California

3.4/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Perfumey yet harsh strong ale.

A nice amber and a nice head with long-lasting lacing in the Duvel tulip glass. Scent is rather sensational with the big hop resin. Initial taste is very full, rather sweet and tangy. Malt is big and robust, but hops take over too soon for my taste. Woody and somewhat astringent from some high hops. Bitter aftertaste more fitting to a Double IPA. The golden ale style seems less forgiving than the barley wines with more roasted flavors.

I don't find this very sippable. Seems quite winey but forces a lot of bitterness on what should be a mellower hop finish, I think. Or compare to Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, where the hops are bold yet somehow more well balanced.

Serving type: bottle

04-04-2011 03:42:01 | More by mactrail

Bfarr

Washington

3.35/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Cloudy red amber and a tan foamy head with good retention and spotty lacing. Boozy, barley aroma with some floral. Bold, bittersweet flavor. A little acidic with lingering effects and a bit of an alcohol burn. Smooth, slightly tacky/sticky.

A little bit of a challenging barleywine. A lot of alpha hop acids take over for the most part. It does mellow a bit with a warmer temperature. Overall, not a bad barleywine especially if you like a lot of hops in this style.

Serving type: bottle

03-05-2011 01:11:10 | More by Bfarr

Gobzilla

California

3.85/5  rDev +12.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured a very murky amber brown in color with yellow highlights that had a thin head and left very little lacing sticking to the glass. The arom was big on the caramel but was able to detect sweetness from the malts mild toffee and faint hop notes. The taste was also dominated by the caramel but was really malty with hop character that was more apparent on the palate. The brew was medium in body with a moderate amount of carbonation which had a sweet, malty, and slight bitter finish. It drank good but was just an average Bwine.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2010 09:20:07 | More by Gobzilla

zeff80

Missouri

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

A - Poured out a cloudy, orange amber color with a one-finger, pillowy white head of foam. Not much the the way of lacing.

S - It smelled of sweet malt. There wasn't much else.

T - A fairly sweet malty flavor with notes of caramel and toffee. There is a very mild bitterness.

M - It was crisp, sharp and fairly smooth. A medium bodied ale.

D - This is a good but not great barleywine. It is very mild and lacks much bitterness.

Serving type: bottle

08-03-2010 01:26:35 | More by zeff80

ThreeWiseMen

California

3.5/5  rDev +2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Wiseman Justin:

Appearance: Very cloudy/amber colored. Tight head/mild lacing. I'm not sure if I'm digging the appearance of the beer. 3.5

Smell: Sweet smell, strong honey, slightly sour. Hint of citrusy hops/grapefruit. The smell is nothing that will wow you for the style. It's above average but that's about it.

Taste: Hoppy as shit for a barleywine. This tries to go in two directions at once. It starts off as a normal barleywine then it tries to go all IPA on you. Strange the ending is almost like a sour. When I say almost I mean nothing like a "sour" but it reminds you of a sour.

Mouthfeel: Slick pretty normal for a barley wine. Not much to report.

Drinkability: Just because I gave everything else a 3.5 I gave this a 3.5 This is a pretty underwhelming albeit above average barleywine. No flash.. Try it but know it's nothing superb.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2010 21:34:29 | More by ThreeWiseMen

froghop

Washington

3.23/5  rDev -5.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

pours a cloudy orange-brownish with no head, and no lacing.

smell is of malt, caramel, and some spice.

taste is weak, malt, slightly metallic, caramel, some spice, and hops, ends dry and hoppy.

overall an okay brew but not as good as other barleywines.

Serving type: bottle

03-13-2010 00:05:26 | More by froghop

Seanibus

California

2.8/5  rDev -18.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Pours a hazy amber with a lot of carbonation, but a disappointing head - all those bubbles just seem to fizz off into space. The aroma is malty, caramel, with a distinct metallic tang. The flavor is carmelly with some floral hops, but big and boozy and overly sweet. There is a little tingle of bitterness at the end, but it is surprisingly muted. The mouthfeel is viscous.

This is a profoundly conventional barleywine.

Serving type: bottle

03-02-2010 02:23:59 | More by Seanibus

steve8robin

Massachusetts

3.58/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Extra in a trade...

A: Murky ruby color with hints on brown mixed in.

S: Smells of hops, matls, and oakiness upfront. Nothing special to the style.

T: Eh, not much special going on in this brew. Water upfront with citrus bitterness in the middle and hops on the backend.

M: Carbonation is a little heavy on this brew. Leaves a nice stickiness on the palate.

D: Not bad. Goes down fairly easy.

All in all, this is a great brew to try if you like your barleywines hoppy. If you are more of a malt person, then I would not hunt down this brew.

Serving type: bottle

02-27-2010 04:27:53 | More by steve8robin

4000qtrap

Missouri

3.33/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Source/Serving: 22oz. Bottle, served chilled. No "best by" date.

Smell: Raisin's are prominent with brown sugar and grapefruity hops.

Taste: Over the top raisins and prunes along with some brown sugar, though not too sweet, followed by a wave of grapefruit/citrus peel bitterness and an interesting roasty note. Hops are well balanced. Thick, viscous mouthfeel. Alcohol is prominent.

Notes: Definitely a super-hopped barleywine...much more raisiny.... Though so overpoweringly so that it loses some drinkability. Moreover, its decent, but nothing about it is very compelling.

Serving type: bottle

11-25-2009 04:29:47 | More by 4000qtrap

DogFood11

California

3.8/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pour was easily managed and the retention was solid. Orange body is cloudy although its clean and free of yeast particles.

Its a mild barleywine. Alcohol is suprisingly listed at 10.5% because its not detectably strong. The signature of this brew is a citrus hop snap at the beginning of each pull. A very slight metallic smell and middle taste puts me off but its very minor.

I liked it much better than their double stout. Decent beer overall. Price per value isn't all that good.

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2009 03:59:16 | More by DogFood11