Owde Engwish Bahwey Whine - Three Floyds Brewing Co. & Brewpub

CLCardinal84

Illinois

2.78/5  rDev -28.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

8 oz pour at Local Option for Winter War. 1st review!

A- beautiful deep orange hue with very minimal head and a small white lacing.

S- Woah. Flowers, honey, citrus, hops, not what I expected from a Barleywine.

T- Meh. A letdown. I was expecting a lot as a huge 3 Floyd's fan, but this falls short. Little carbonation. It tastes a lot like honey and lemons to me. I was expecting something like a Sucaba but this is far from it.

M- chewy, thick and coats the tongue. Like I said before, tastes like tea with honey.

O - I decided this beer was worthy of my first review because it was so underwhelming. Really thought this would be a home run but fell short. Glad to have tried it. Won't seek out again.

Serving type: on-tap

12-15-2012 02:20:47 | More by CLCardinal84

Treebs

Illinois

4/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served on tap at Maria's Package Goods and Community Bar during Chicago Craft Beer Week.

A: Pours a dark copper-like color with minimal head. Leaves an off-white film on the top.

S: Hints of fruity berries come out with some nice malts. A little burn is on the back end of the nose as well.

T: Nice sweet fruits with some bitters through out the middle and slight beginning. Sweetness of the apples and pears comes back at the end. A little heat on the back end which ties all the complexities together.

M: Nice and creamy with a medium body. Medium carbonation and a nice coating of the tongue to give a lingering dark fruit taste.

O: My first FFF barleywine and I was impressed. You go some fruits, some malts and some heat that all make up some great components of a good, if not great, barelywine.

Serving type: on-tap

05-21-2011 03:54:33 | More by Treebs

Vdubb86

Illinois

4.33/5  rDev +11%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served in a snifter at FFF brewpub

This beer was by far the best thing that FFF had to offer today at their brewpub. This beer poured a cloudy dark amber color with a semi decent white head on the surface. The smell was glorious. Candy sugar like sweetness on the nose upfront with a light citrus hop aroma in the back that was rather pleasant. The flavor was like candy dancing on my tongue. There was so much malty sweetness that it almost bordered on too much (as a side note I tried the cask version of this too and the sweetness is toned down to the point that makes it perfect). There is hints of citrus, perhaps orange zest and some cinnamon as well. It's really a rather tasty brew. The mouthfeel leaves a tad to be desired from this beer due to an odd combo of sweet and bitter, but I must say that this beer was really really good.

Serving type: on-tap

02-06-2011 02:13:19 | More by Vdubb86

TMoney2591

Illinois

4.28/5  rDev +9.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Served in a snifter at the brewpub.

Had to dance with the cask brew during our Three Floyds Brewpub Experience today. It pours a hazed sunrise russet-amber topped by a finger of ecru micro-foam. The nose comprises orange zest, toffee, caramel, flowers, and light bright greens (you know, the part of the lettuce head that has the least amount of vitamins and whatnot). The taste brings in more of the same, along with some extra caramel and toffee, some red grapes, and a subtle leek character lurking devilishly in the background. The body is a strong medium, with a mild carbonation and a rather smooth feel. Overall, a very nice b-wine, the standout of the Experience.

Serving type: cask

02-06-2011 01:59:36 | More by TMoney2591

KickInTheChalice

Illinois

4.15/5  rDev +6.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served on tap in a goblet at Three Floyds.

Appearance: Effervescent and inviting. Owd Engwish has an amber copper hue with tints of brown and a fluffy white head. Nice retention and some lacing is left down the side of the glass.

Smell: A little bit of barnyard funk, with dark fruits and caramelized malt. Some white grape, tangerine, and a variety of citrus and floral hops. Some booze. Nice complexity in the nose, but the funk drops it a bit for me.

Taste: Sweet to start, as I would expect. Caramel, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves give it a spicy note to go along with the toffee and big malt sweetness. Some starfruit and white grape provide some complexity in the middle, with the end transitioning to tangerine, grapefruit, and orange blossom hops to close.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied, sticky, sweet, juicy, and lightly creamy. Somewhat drying on the tongue at the end of the sip.

Drinkability: Solid, sweet and hoppy, with enough complexity to make me prefer it over Behemoth.

Serving type: on-tap

01-26-2011 23:05:50 | More by KickInTheChalice

Thorpe429

Illinois

3.05/5  rDev -21.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

On tap at the brewpub. Served in a tall goblet.

Pours a ligh copper color with a half-finger of white head that faded and leaves a bit of spotty lacing as well as a thin collar. The nose is really quite plain wit just a bit of light malty sweetness.and some very faint tropical hops.

The taste is a bit of a disappointment. There are some tropical hops and some lightly-sweet malt, though it is a bit medicinal and boozy toward the back. Finish is oddly alcoholic and has a bit of a medicinal component. Not my favorite brew from them, sad to say. Interesting, but not all that good in the end.

Serving type: on-tap

12-23-2010 19:08:02 | More by Thorpe429

MasterSki

Illinois

3.33/5  rDev -14.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

On-tap at Three Floyds. Served in their tulip-style glass.

A - Glass coating lace after a finger of foam settles to a partial cap. The body is a pleasant transparent amber. Pretty nice for a high-gravity barleywine.

S - Bready malt, with notes of maraschino cherry, alcohol, and citrus and tropical fruit hop character. This doesn't seem very English to me, as it isn't very sweet.

T - Again, there's some spicy alcohol esters here, mixed with toffee malt, bread, and notes of burnt sugar. Not as pleasant as the nose as it lacks much of the flavor provided by the dry hopping.

M - Medium body, medium carbonation, a bit of alcohol warmth. Pretty unspectacular.

D - Took me a while to work through my pour, although I never contemplated giving up. Definitely not as good as Behemoth.

Serving type: on-tap

09-10-2010 18:59:34 | More by MasterSki

mynie

Indiana

4.43/5  rDev +13.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

From notes so please pardon the sparsity:

"VIOLETS!"

Oh crap... That's not enough.

Here's the thing: for us Americans, all of our barley wines are some variation on Big Foot. And that's a good thing, usually. Frankly I think EBW's are like the most overrated style--they're often way too thick and caramelly and it's like I'm having some of that awful British candy that Slothrop had to eat in Gravity's Rainbow.

This must be what one of them tastes like when it's all fresh. Or probably not, since the Floyds got a weird nationalist streak about them and like pissing all over foreign styles.

You still got the breadiness. You still got the big, bold malt, and some decent hops. But there's a floral profile in there--god knows where it comes from--but it tastes like gorgeous wonderful violets. You can eat violets, you know. They even make violet flavored candies. This is like them but in beer form.

Serving type: on-tap

09-01-2010 02:45:37 | More by mynie

jrallen34

Illinois

3.48/5  rDev -10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

On tap into a snifter at the brewpub...Pours a cleairsh light to medium brown, off white head with tons of lacing...A really light aroma, typical english style, tough to pull anything out, malt caramel with a touch of hops on the back. I want to like it, just nothing there...The taste is light but thankfully stronger the aroma. Toffee on the front which is sweet and nice but then almost totally dead in the middle lacking of flavor. The finish brings about some wood and hops, just pretty boring, tough to drink a lot of it.

A pretty boring bw, nothing special here.

Serving type: on-tap

08-29-2010 20:28:24 | More by jrallen34

Kegatron

Pennsylvania

4.05/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

On tap @ the 3 Floyds Brewpub (Munster, IN) on 8/6/10. Served in a snifter.

Pours clear copper, with a ½ finger of bright-white head. This sticks around with some rich bunching around the edges of the glass that flares up nicely when swirled and leaves a creamy cascade of thick lacing down the sides. The aroma is deep with earth and spice and a LOT of tropical fruit character. Sticking smelling notes of cocoa and toffee ride out the back. This has a very nice thickness to it in the nose but without being overly warm at all.

The taste is thick, sweet, and sticky in the mouth with burnt brown sugars, some chocolate, toffee, and a good bit of tropical citrus all melding together. An earthy and spicy feeling bitterness is present but is quickly gobbled up by all of that malty and fruity sweetness. Some roasted malt character does creep into the finish, lingering with leftover notes of gritty earth, spice, and fruitiness. The mouthfeel is full and chewy feeling, with a pleasant mellowness that runs through the body. I'm getting some warmth on the tail end but the alcohol remains relatively smooth and doesn't hinder the drinkibility much at all.

This was interesting, kind of an English/American Barleywine hybrid, with a lot of the sweet tropical hop flavor of an American version but the bitterness itself was much more subdued and balanced liked the English style. Easy drinking body for such a big beer as well. I'm glad I gave this one a shot.

Serving type: on-tap

08-20-2010 19:33:26 | More by Kegatron

yeahnatenelson

Illinois

3.68/5  rDev -5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Had on tap tonight at the FFF Brewpub.

Appearance -- Pours a rosy amber, practically purple, with a finger of creamy beige head.

Smell -- Very aromatic: Lots of sweet floral notes with raisin and spicy hops.

Taste -- Follows the nose pretty well: an abundance of fruity malt sweetness, ripe plum and raisin being foremost. Up front is a lot of floral hop flavor. Toward the finish is mildly bitter, spicy hop finish.

Mouthfeel -- Full in body, slick, with low carbonation creating a creamy feel.

Drinkability -- Before I ordered this, I was expecting something a little different (a toned-down Behemoth?), but was still pleasantly surprised. By far the most floral barleywine I've yet to have, and at the time it was a pleasant counterpoint to Ruggoop. It was good, but there are plenty of other FFF beers on tap I'd have again before doubling back for this one.

Serving type: on-tap

08-06-2010 02:37:47 | More by yeahnatenelson