Ridge Runner - Rock Art Brewery

Kinsman

New Hampshire

3.75/5  rDev +9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Murky dark brown color with a fluffy ecru colored head that fills the upper third if the glass.

Initial aroma certainly suggest a more traditional malt-forward barleywine with plenty of caramelized malts and only faint hints of citrusy cascade hops in the background.

Tastewise, sweet biscuity malts and slight hints of cocoa tell the story here. Hops add just a bit of bittering and some floral and fruity character to offset the malt.

Mouthfeel is lighter than expected but still plenty of body for this barleywine. Smooth with a slightly warming finish. Overall not a bad beer at all and certainly a nice change of pace from the hop-forward barelywines that seem to dominate the market now.

Serving type: bottle

08-06-2011 18:37:40 | More by Kinsman

indy14jonesy

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev +1.7%

05-19-2013 17:33:06 | More by indy14jonesy

hphilip456

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev +1.7%

05-16-2013 03:33:40 | More by hphilip456

tnbeatty

Vermont

2.75/5  rDev -20.1%

05-15-2013 13:36:30 | More by tnbeatty

Kelp

New Hampshire

3.5/5  rDev +1.7%

05-15-2013 04:38:54 | More by Kelp

johnnnniee

New Hampshire

3.49/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a medium reddish copper color with a smallish off white head that quickly dissipates to a ring on top. Smells of caramel toffee and light bready grainy malt. Light sulfur and a hint of earth with a light butterscotch round out the nose. The flavor is biscuity bready grainy maltiness with bits of toffee and butterscotch. Light earthy hops flavor with a bit of sulfur provides a counter the the malty sweetness. Medium body with a moderate level of carbonation and a sweet slick mouthfeel. Nice enough barleywine, the bready maltiness is nice but the toffee butterscotch is a bit too much on my palette.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2013 00:47:43 | More by johnnnniee

Snellgg5

New Hampshire

4.25/5  rDev +23.5%

05-11-2013 23:24:45 | More by Snellgg5

JMS1512

New Jersey

2/5  rDev -41.9%

04-14-2013 02:38:05 | More by JMS1512

bacher468

Pennsylvania

3.25/5  rDev -5.5%

04-06-2013 16:18:57 | More by bacher468

lovindahops

New York

3.75/5  rDev +9%

03-29-2013 20:10:12 | More by lovindahops

brheuer

New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev +1.7%

03-24-2013 21:20:57 | More by brheuer

HoppyKilaMonster

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev +1.7%

03-21-2013 00:58:41 | More by HoppyKilaMonster

SupremePie

Vermont

3.75/5  rDev +9%

03-19-2013 05:06:34 | More by SupremePie

chippo33

Vermont

3.25/5  rDev -5.5%

03-13-2013 22:50:38 | More by chippo33

Mack

Quebec (Canada)

4.25/5  rDev +23.5%

03-06-2013 23:59:11 | More by Mack

acurtis

New Jersey

2.75/5  rDev -20.1%

03-03-2013 00:12:34 | More by acurtis

buzzy

Pennsylvania

2.75/5  rDev -20.1%

02-24-2013 15:08:15 | More by buzzy

Zum

3/5  rDev -12.8%

02-20-2013 21:40:04 | More by Zum

OBIrish24

Connecticut

3.5/5  rDev +1.7%

02-20-2013 01:32:03 | More by OBIrish24

stephenjmoore

Maryland

3.75/5  rDev +9%

02-16-2013 22:32:36 | More by stephenjmoore

ryan1788a5

Massachusetts

2.73/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 2.5

12oz bottle poured into a New Belgium globe. This beer is about two years old at the time of consumption. Though it isn't a very big Barleywine, I still decided to experiment with aging a few bottles. I still left them in the cellar far longer than I intended, but we'll see what happens.

A: Brown in color with hues of orange and ruby. Chill haze is apparent. A half an inch of white head is short lived. Spotty and whispy patches of lacing. Small bits of sediment in suspension.

S: Very dry chocolatey scent. Bakers chocolate and cocoa powder. Rich scents of caramel, toffee, and toasted bread crust. A touch earthy and woody. Chocolate covered raisins and raspberries. As it warms, it is obvious that time has taken its toll. Cardboard and tart fruit aromas suggest that this beer is well past its prime.

T: Tart, slightly soured tastes of raspberry and cherry. Oxidation is apparent as that wet cardboard and spicy sherry taste comes out. Caramel and toasted bread crust. Lots of dry chocolate. A touch woody. Raisin and plum. Touch of spicy hops have been all but ironed out. Nice, lingering dry chocolatey finish.

M: Heavy in body. There's some heft to it, but it isn't too weighty. Chewy and creamy. Little to no carbonation. Good mouthfeel.

O: So Ridge Runner is definitely not a good candidate for extended aging. Though Barleywine is normally a style that blossoms with age, this one is on the small side of the style's spectrum, and just couldn't stand up to time. I'll have to do a re-review sometime, as this is a beer I've had fresh many times and find to be quite pleasing.

Serving type: bottle

01-24-2013 21:07:51 | More by ryan1788a5

alpinebryant

Connecticut

3.15/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.25

A: pours a dark copper with a massive head and heavy lacing on the glass. Appears filtered and crystal clear.

S: aroma of heavy roasted malts. Mostly caramel and some bitterness in the hopping but not aromatic dry hop scents.

T: the flavor here is mostly caramel. I picked these up this morning in VT and was looking forward to drinking it. This is a very malt forward barley wine and it is clearly subdued from a hopping perspective. This is not a bad thing, as it really brings forward the malt and caramel flavors more instead of knocking your taste buds out with over hopping and being too sweet. That said, it is clearly an English barley wine and is slightly dry. It's true to the style and should be appreciated for that.

M: relatively thick for a 7.5 abv barley wine. Light carbonation

O: overall a very drinkable barley wine. It's enjoyable and you do not need to sip it in order to not be overtaken with too much complexity. It's good, just not as enjoyable as say a Brooklyn Monster English barley wine.

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2013 20:06:07 | More by alpinebryant

BeerNerd84

Vermont

3.75/5  rDev +9%

01-09-2013 17:46:39 | More by BeerNerd84

BeerCosmonaut

Vermont

3/5  rDev -12.8%

01-05-2013 03:59:28 | More by BeerCosmonaut

NiceTaps

New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle poured into a pint glass.

A- clean and clear amber color with a minimal head, jacket lacing to start ,then minimal retention. A light stream of bubbles.

S- Sweet caramel malts and dark friuts, plum, grape. A bit medicinal.

T- Dark malt, chocolate and caramel. Bitter flowery hops.

M- There's body, but not much carbonation in the sips. Bitter chocolatey finish. Some lingering hop bite.

O-The abv is toned down in this barleywine, but the profile is pretty strong.

Serving type: bottle

01-05-2013 03:25:38 | More by NiceTaps