Baggywrinkle Barleywine - Cisco Brewers Inc.

corey0212

Massachusetts

4.05/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a slightly murky iced-tea color, some nicer ruby highlights when held to light, foamy tan head fades pretty fast, and leaves a few stray spots of lacing on the glass. Smell is powerfully hoppy, big juicy grapefruit aromas, lots of sticky-sweet caramel malt, and a goodly amount of alcohol on the nose. Taste kind of comes out of nowhere in relation to the smell....some apple, caramel, and a bitter, but not unpleasant taste of alcohol. Maybe a little thin on the moutfheel, but with some nice lingering bitterness and spice. I'll certainly pick up a few more of these for my paltry "beer cellar". Might be fun to see how this one ages.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2008 00:24:38 | More by corey0212

jondeelee

Massachusetts

3.64/5  rDev +4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Baggywrinkle opens to a malty nose, yeasty rising whole wheat dough, floury baguette, toast crust, and biscuit mixing with brown sugar, vanilla, caramel, and a mix of light and dark fruit esters – orange, berry, and cherry, but also plum, date, and light raisin – to form a spiceless fruitcake aroma, but with shades of tawny port and toffee. Light grapefruit and pine overtones from the hops help provide contrast. As a whole, the nose is quite nice, the light and dark sugars and fruits mixing well with the yeasty rising breads, the result bouncing between sugary and dark, yeasty and bready. In the end, the sugars are what are most noticeable, thanks to the high 12% ABV, but it’s important to note here that the alcohol doesn’t come through overly so in the nose as in a martini or cocktail, but instead blends well with everything else. The aroma’s main weakness is a surprising lack of strength for a high ABV beer, the nose almost needing to be in the glass to detect it.

On the tongue, the beer proves to be much more bitter than the nose let on, with grapefruit and pine from the hops mixing with strange, Caribbean-like pineapple, coconut, and mango-papaya fruits, as well as strong dashes of pepper. The alcohol is also much more noticeable here, lacing the tongue like a strong fruit cocktail and filling the nasal cavities with vapors. The strangeness of the fruits are somewhat tempered by brown sugar, vanilla, toasted nut, toast crust, and biscuit, as well as some fig and raisin fruit esters, but the result is somewhat messy, as if the beer can’t quite make up its mind what it wants to be. In subsequent sips much of the initial nuance of the beer is gone, including the strange fruits, but what is left is a peppery, figgy, cola-like taste laced with soft-tissue-burning moonshine, fading into a long-lingering aftertaste of toasted nuts, burnt brown sugar, and lots and lots of alcohol. Mouthfeel is medium, and carbonation is medium to medium-high, the beer slightly foaming in the mouth.

Overall, while the aromas were very nice, and continue to be nice throughout the experience, the flavors are overly muddled, and the alcohol – at least on the tongue – sharp and undisguised. The beer needs a better balance between flavor and alcohol, and quite a few more bread and fruit notes to improve the flavors.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2013 16:15:19 | More by jondeelee

Carpentiere

New Hampshire

3.75/5  rDev +7.1%

05-02-2013 17:59:20 | More by Carpentiere

Kelp

New Hampshire

3.5/5  rDev 0%

04-29-2013 06:21:14 | More by Kelp

Hopstout

Minnesota

3.25/5  rDev -7.1%

04-23-2013 03:09:58 | More by Hopstout

Pdrufo

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev 0%

04-19-2013 20:11:59 | More by Pdrufo

elec

Minnesota

3.25/5  rDev -7.1%

04-12-2013 02:07:29 | More by elec

Colosdog

Massachusetts

4.25/5  rDev +21.4%

04-06-2013 14:17:48 | More by Colosdog

stpaulsipper07

Minnesota

4.5/5  rDev +28.6%

03-18-2013 19:26:48 | More by stpaulsipper07

bigorange

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev 0%

03-14-2013 23:20:34 | More by bigorange

brez8791

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -14.3%

02-27-2013 23:49:51 | More by brez8791

djrn2

New Jersey

3.25/5  rDev -7.1%

02-24-2013 01:25:36 | More by djrn2

haazer

Pennsylvania

2.53/5  rDev -27.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.25

A- Dark orange, apple juice like color. Nice ring of off white bubbles.

S- Smells a bit muddled. Some orange, coriander, a bit of pine. Smells a little bit like burnt malt though with a touch of booze.

T- Flavor is pretty jumbled together as well. Coriander, toast bread, then a rush of burnt malt. Almost like this was boiled too long. The booze is not well masked either.

M- Full bodied, chewy mouthfeel. Mid level carbonation.

O- Overall not what I expected after reading the description on the draft list. In the lower rung of barley wines for me. The burnt malt and booze flavor throw me off.

Serving type: on-tap

02-20-2013 20:04:04 | More by haazer

ELECTRONICAnonymous

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev 0%

12-15-2012 03:11:09 | More by ELECTRONICAnonymous

woosterbill

Connecticut

4.38/5  rDev +25.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

On cask at the Cask Republic, dry hopped with Citra. Served, rather insanely, in a pint glass.

A: Milky orange-amber body under a lovely two fingers of classic cask froth that shows pretty good retention and leaves some nice lace. Inviting.

S: Juicy hops, caramel, and some background booze. The Citra really shines with intense mango, grapefruit, and lemon notes dominating. Terrific.

T: Almost tart citrus right up front, followed by super-sweet brown sugar and caramel malt, and closed out with even tarter fruitiness and some spicy alcohol. Bitter, hoppy aftertaste. Wow.

M: Soft, substantial, faintly carbonated cask body. A little sticky.

O: I've never been a huge fan of the base beer, but with a boatload of Citra it's really delightful. The fruitiness and bitterness provide both complement and contrast to the core malt sweetness, giving an otherwise boring beer some real complexity. Great use of dry hopping.

Cheers!

Serving type: cask

12-07-2012 18:33:07 | More by woosterbill

rhoadsrage

Illinois

4.33/5  rDev +23.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

(Served in a tulip glass)

A- Dense deep caramel body with a bubbly thick light tan head that last for a good bit. there is a gentle carbonation trailing up the sides of the glass.

S- The aroma of cream and caramel have some nice butter toffee notes as it warms.

T- the classic caramel malt with a touch of sweetness and a nice dry woody hop hint in the finish. There is a note of pine resin in the hops but it always stays pretty soft compared to the malt flavors.

M- The medium-full mouthfeel is followed by no alcohol heat until it is really warm.

O- The nice classic rich English barleywine is slightly dry and very drinkable. The nice American hops notes and a new twist to this well build beer.

Serving type: bottle

11-26-2012 22:09:55 | More by rhoadsrage

SLeffler27

New York

3.6/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours ruddy copper with a thin white head and no real lacing.

Aromas include caramel and raisin, some pine, but rather mild given the style.

Flavor is malt-centric as expected, with some toffee, fig and raisin, as well as pumpernickel.

A medium body and well carbonated, though the alcohol is a bit sharp.

Overall, enjoyable as an anniversary marker of a trip to Nantucket with friends.

Serving type: bottle

11-25-2012 21:35:03 | More by SLeffler27

oldedog

Connecticut

3.5/5  rDev 0%

11-24-2012 02:23:38 | More by oldedog

ChadQuest

Illinois

2.35/5  rDev -32.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Body is slightly light on color for the style and an amber hue. decent head.

Hmm, i just noticed my bottle says 9% alcohol and the info on BA says 12%. I WANT THAT 3%.

The aroma and flavor profile is fairly matched so ill list the overall nose/palate. Really mellow and melded but i have no idea the age, low alcohol heat even perhaps for 9%, melded Big C hops in the pine and resin type, light caramel but not really sweet more a dry caramel, honestly tastes more like a 1-2 year old american barleywine then an english barleywine.

Mouthfeel is dry for calling this an english BW.

BW Tick. I'd pass.

Serving type: bottle

09-24-2012 01:17:25 | More by ChadQuest

danthehopslamman

4/5  rDev +14.3%

08-15-2012 05:19:43 | More by danthehopslamman

Nickfellow007

Rhode Island

2.75/5  rDev -21.4%

08-14-2012 20:53:07 | More by Nickfellow007

Gobzilla

California

4.05/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A: poured a murky dark brown in color with pale yellow highlights and a thin head that left slight wisps of lacing sticking to the glass.

S: brown sugar caramel, and dark fruit showed it self first in the aroma with booze, maple but hints of vinous character.

T: the booze was more intense on the palate alongside brown sugar, caramel, dark fruit notes, mild tobacco flavor and maple syrup accents.

M: the brew was medium in body with a low amount of carbonation which had a sweet, slight fruity, mild musty, boozy, sticky finish.

O: I honestly thought it was a solid barleywine and was glad to try a beer from cisco.

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2012 02:07:34 | More by Gobzilla

BostonHops

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

pours a dull golden orange tone while yielding short-lived finger or so of head. nose is malty/sweet with notes of fruit, toffee and/or brown sugar, and a touch of a hoppy presence. on the whole, fairly tame for what you typically expect from a beer like this.

flavor follows the nose with big malty/sweet dynamic interspersed with muted notes of fruit, toffee, and booze. medium-full bodied with average carbonation.

some enjoyable elements here but in the final analysis it's pretty much a run of the mill barleywine: not bad, not great.

Serving type: bottle

06-23-2012 02:49:18 | More by BostonHops

ferrari29

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev 0%

06-17-2012 02:01:27 | More by ferrari29

mjtiernan

New York

2.75/5  rDev -21.4%

05-12-2012 19:14:21 | More by mjtiernan